Human
by JulieArchery107
Summary: During an unfortunate battle with Megatron, Optimus Prime is changed into a human and found by Jack's mother. And in such a good time too. Ms. Darby has to find Jack a foster father, before the end of this month or her ex-husband (who is an abusive jerk) will take her son away from her. Hmmm...
1. Chapter 1

"Human."

Chapter 1

"June's discovery."

June's POV:

It was a normal night when it happened.

I was sitting in my favorite armchair, drinking tea with honey and mint (something Jack isn't really fond of) and watching a Spanish soap opera on TV.

Or in other words, relaxing.

Jack was staying for the night at a friend's house, so it was the perfect opportunity for me to sit back and enjoy the empty house.

I should have known, it wouldn't last long.

Just when I was about to take another sip of my delicious drink…an earthquake shook my house. Making me spill the hot liquid all over my new blouse and trousers.

Sighting tiredly, I decided it was best if I checked what was going on.

I got up from my armchair and grabbed Jack's old baseball bat, as a weapon.

You never know what might fall next to your house.

As far as I know, it could be one of those pesky Decepticons.

If it was I would immediately call one of my Autobot friends for help.

Taking a deep breath, I headed to the front door of my small house.

Through the windows, I could see smoke coming from my front yard.

 _So something_ did _fall next to my house_. I thought, before twisting the doorknob.

There, in a pail of dirt was…

A tall, middle-aged man, with black hair and a scared body.

He was lieing, naked in the small crater, obviously unconscious.

For a minute I was just standing there, wondering why I didn't scream yet.

Maybe it was because I was a doctor, and I was used to seeing men in such a state.

Or maybe it was because, I saw weirder things in my life.

A few of my closest friends were giant, living robots after all.

Shaking my head, I formed my legs to take a step closer to the man's body.

He was obviously well built, a solid eight-pack decorated his torso, along with a couple of large scars that looked as if they were made by a knife.

His hair was short, raven-black, a bit spiky near his forehead and silver-ish near his temples.

Looking at him from a medical point of view, he was a tall, healthy, well-muscled man with lots of scars. He didn't seem injured, other than the fact that he's unconscious.

And I had to admit, the small beard decorating his face, made him very good-looking.

I kneeled next to his head and gently shook his shoulders.

"Sir?" I asked. "Sir, are you okay?"

At first he didn't move a muscle, but after a couple of minutes of doing nothing but shaking his shoulders, he answered.

And I still can't believe I didn't recognize him the minute he opened his, abnormally blue eyes.

"I'm fine Ms. Darby." A booming, baritone voice I liked so much, left his lips.

It was Optimus.


	2. Chapter 2

"Human."

Chapter 2

"Adjusting to the situation."

#June's POV:

For a minute, I just stood there and watched him.

I never imagined what the Autobot leader would look like as a human, but if I did, this was probably what I would dream up.

Even in his lieing position on the floor, I could already say he's taller than me by a head or so.

Also, his muscles looked as if he could bench-press a car. Witch, if he was in his robotic body, would be totally possible.

I have to say, for a newly transformed robotic alien, he looked, as Miko would say, very hot.

And the small, raven-black beard decorating his chin, only added to the "hotness account".

Wow, I need to stop using those teenage words so much. I'm beginning to sound like Miko.

Though those words maybe inappropriate for an old woman such as I, but that the only way I can describe what I'm seeing right now.

I can almost imagine the hordes of fan-girls, banging on his doorstep, after just a couple of days spent in his new body.

"Uh…Miss Darby?" Optimus's voice, pulled me out of thought.

As I looked down to face him, I realized he was looking at me, with bright blue eyes sparkling with concern. Cursing myself under my breath, I blushed.

He must have caught me staring.

"You look…taller." He added after a minute.

I smiled. "You shrunk."

The Autobot leader blinked. "What?"

I gulped. _He doesn't know?_

Apparently…no, he didn't know.

His confused eyes, told me as much.

"Wait here for a minute." I said backing away, towards my house. "I'll be right back."

I added before disappearing, inside my home.

#Optimus's POV:

When my systems finally on-lined, I realized I was lieing on the ground.

For a minute or so, I had no idea where I was or how I got here. All I heard was a woman, asking me if I was alright.

Growling silently at the numbness I was feeling, I forced my optics to open. What greeted them was one of my human allies, Ms. Darby. Jackson's carrier or, as humans like to call them, his mother.

Her dark-brown eyes were sparkling with worry and concern, which I did not understand.

My fall couldn't be that great, it wasn't the first time I was blasted by one of Megatron's guns and my systems didn't detect any mayor injury.

So her concern was completely unneeded for, I was fine.

I knew he was expecting an answer so I forced words, to escape my parched throat.

"I'm fine Ms. Darby."

Apparently she did not recognize me at first, because as soon as she heard my voice, a sparkle of recognition flashed in her, beautiful dark-brown eyes.

What can I say? I always liked the colors of human eyes.

Unlike ours, every human has their unique colored irises. Not only purple, red or blue like in our case.

It always fascinated me on how Miko and Jack have dark-brown eyes, while Agent Fowler and Raphael have amber-brown. Even if they're all members of the same species.

Shaking my head slightly, I turn my attention back to Ms. Darby.

For reasons known to her and her alone, she was staring at me.

Or, if I want to be precise, at my face.

I cooked my head at that. Was something wrong with my face-plates?

As if to answer my un-told question, June Darby's own cheeks began blooming with, something I heard Miko call, "blush".

After a couple of minutes, her condition didn't change and I became concerned.

I never saw a human react to me that way.

They either looked up at me with faces showing shock, which had something to do with my size, during times outside of battle, or fear as they watched me clash with Decepticons on the battle field.

Even with all the wisdom of the Primes, I had no idea how to deal with a "blushing" human. Especially one that never reacted to me like that, despite seeing me before on a lot of occasions.

"Uh…Ms. Darby?" I asked, which seemed to pull her out of her trance, for she blinked a couple of times and turned away from me, "blushing" even more.

There was also one more fact that bothered me.

I was renowned for being the tallest Autobot in team Prime, and yet this, normally, small human managed to catch up to me somehow.

In my calculations I was still taller than she was by two human heads, but the lone fact that she was now taller than Ratchet and Bulkhead was unnerving, to say the least.

"You look…taller." I never knew humans could grow to such heights and I wondered if she could explain how that happened.

What she answered, made my spark skip a beat.

"You shrunk."

I blinked, letting that information sink in.

I… _shrunk_?!

 _By Primus, how did that happen?!_

But that wasn't the only question that plagued my mind.

 _How am I supposed to fight Megatron like this?!_ Was next in line and truth to be told, it concerned me more than the previous one.

Ratchet told me about the time I believed, I was Orion Pax again. About how helpless the team was without me to lead them and take on the decepticon Leader. That even together, they couldn't bring Megatron to a standstill.

I fear that in my current condition, this situation will most likely be a repeat of that one.

Again June Darby's voice, pulled me out of thought.

"Wait here for a minute." She said backing away, towards her house I just realized was right behind her. "I'll be right back."

And she disappeared into the building, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

#June's POV:

I ran like crazy, towards my bedroom.

I knew I couldn't leave Prime alone for long in his condition, so I decided to go look through my ex-husband's clothes to see if there was something that could fit the humanized robot.

I frowned at the thought of Joe Darby.

The man my heart choose to love, against my better judgement.

We met back in high school, he was the class bad boy and I took up the role of 'class nerd'.

During one of my friend's parties we shared a conversation and he spiked my interest with his 'bad boy charm'.

That evening, I just knew we were meant to be.

That God pared us up together, so that I can make a good person out of him through understanding and love. That I could somehow cure him from alcoholism.

During the first years of your marriage, that plan seemed to work. He brought me a present every day after work, kissed me good bye whenever he left and never touched a bear bottle whenever I was around.

But like everything enjoyable, that lasted till the day Jack was born.

That's when I finally saw his true colors.

He was drunk that day, he came to see our son.

Immediately he realized that Jack bore, next to no resemblance to him.

Unlike the two of us, he had blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

He accused me for cheating on him, when he was on a longer ride in his semi-truck.

After that I threw him out of my house and asked for a divorce.

Luckily, it was granted to me almost immediately. The judges knew Joe and understood my request.

I shook the thoughts out of my head.

Now it wasn't the time, to be thinking about the past!

Growling at the "happy" memories that began swimming in my head, I opened Joe's old wardrobe in order to find something for a much taller Optimus Prime.

Ten minutes later, I found what I was looking for.

I was now holding a red T-shirt, blue skin jacket, red boxers, pair of white socks and jeans.

They might be a bit too small for the Autobot leader, but they will have to do.

With a sad sight, I left the room.

Completely missing the small yellow envelope, that was lieing on my desk.

JA107: Hi guys! Hope this chap satisfies you lot! Sorry if I messed up Optimus's POV, he's a very hard character to write. But I still love him 3. Anyway, thanks for the reviews! And don't worry, I'll write more soon! And remember! The more reviews, the longer the chapter!

Ciao for now!


	3. Chapter 3

"Human."

Chapter 3

"The yellow envelope's little secret."

#June's POV:

Before I went to confront Optimus, I grabbed a spare blanket that lied on my couch.

He can't come inside my house with nothing covering his body. That would raise unwanted questions in my neighbor's heads, and the last thing we need right now is somebody calling the police on the both of us.

Shaking my head at the unpleasant thought, I walked out my house just to see Optimus looking at his hands as if they were alien to him. Witch…they probably are.

With a short giggle at the innocent and confused look on his face, I threw the blanket at him. The sight was even funnier when he froze the minute the cloth landed on his head.

I laughed. "Relax, Optimus." I said and watched as his covered head turned to face me, he looked like a child pretending to be a ghost. "It's just a blanket."

I could swear he growled quietly, when he pulled the cloak of his head. As a result his hair looked messier than Miko's bedroom and the scowl he was giving the poor, blue blanket was absolutely priceless.

As fun as it was, I still had to take him inside.

"Alright, Optimus." He stopped glaring at the cloth in his hands, and focused his attention to me. "Tie that around your waist and I'm going to help you get up."

He blinked at me, but did as he was told. Although it took him some time, with his sitting position on the dirty ground.

Now, with that matter taken care of, I walked up to him and picked his right arm up, in order to slip under it and help him support his weigh, better.

"Ready Optimus?" I asked once I was sure, his hand wasn't going to slip through my grip.

"As ready as I'll ever be." He answered, keeping a firm grip on the blanket.

Nodding, I began to slowly stand up.

Man, for someone so thin he sure was heavy. Not that I think he was overweight or anything, the mass he has probably came from all those thick muscles that decorated his body, instead of fat.

Once we were fully standing, I took a slow step forward. Thankfully it seemed that Prime was quick to follow my lead and soon we were half way across the road towards home.

Just as we were nearing the end, he groaned and placed a hand on his head making me stop in worry.

"Optimus, are you alright?" I asked, turning my head to look at his face. Without his battle mask covering it, I could identify the emotion he was now experiencing. And this moment, it showed pain.

"I'm fine." He whispered. "Just a bit…dizzy." The, once, Autobot leader groaned again, rubbing his hurting temples.

I frowned. These might be the aftereffects of the transformation. The best thing to do now, is to get him under the rooftop as soon as possible, so I can check on his health.

There's no saying on how well his, now, human body reacted to the new germs. It might be life threatening, and the last thing the Autobots need in this war, is for their best fighter to die of something as simple as a cold.

"Okay Optimus." I said, squeezing his hand tighter for he was beginning to lose focus. "We're going to take it easy. One step at a time." He nodded and we returned to our crusade.

Thank _God_ , it was nightfall and nobody saw this. I can only imagine how wired we look right now.

Finally, after what is seemed like ages, we managed to get inside my one-family house. Without wasting a second, I showed the clothes I choose for him into his arms and pushed him into the bathroom.

"One you are done putting them on, meet me in the living room." I called after him, before heading to my room to get _my_ set of spare clothes.

#Optimus's POV:

I flinched, at the sound of a door being shut behind me. By Primus, this body is quite alert and, as Miko would put it, "jumpy".

I don't recall flinching at relatively quiet sound such as this one, in my robot body. This will require some getting used to...

Sighting I looked down at the objects in my hands, that I believed humans called "clothes".

They were mostly in the colors everyone recognized me by, red and dark blue. Well…except for this small, white ball on top of them. It was probably the only piece of "clothing", I did not recognize.

I should feel lucky the humans made something like "YouTube", or I would be completely clueless on what to put where. Though very helpful, the "internet" turned out to be a very dark place, if you ventured to far.

Once I got most of my "clothes" on right, though I have to admit, I did have to repeat that action a couple of times to do so, I decided to took notice on the room I was occupying.

Being a robot my size, I never had the honor be inside a human house. Though I did saw a few examples of what they could look like on an architecture "website", this place didn't look like any I saw on the World Wide Web.

It was rather small, compared to my base and pink dominated the walls. There were also "furniture" that we Cybertronians, didn't use. Like "toilets", "sinks" and "cosmetics". Everything decorated with red and pink flowers on a white background.

Looking around, I realized there was a mirror right in front of me. But it didn't show the proud autobot leader, I usually saw when I looked into a water surface. Instead I saw a tall, human man with somewhat spiky, black hair that was getting silver-ish near the temples that stood up in two places representing the two antennas he once had, the same colored small beard and stern un-humanly blue eyes that were glaring back at me.

It took me a moment to realize I was glaring at myself, which left me feeling rather foolish. The feeling of foolishness brought out, another thing that was characteristic about humans.

A blush.

It was accompanied by a warm feeling and now decorated my serious face, in an awkward color of pink. Witch left me looking, and feeling, ridiculous instead of threatening and respectful.

I growled, looking away from the mirror. Somehow just looking at it, took away all the dignity and respect I harvested for all those years I've been functioning. And it made me feel like a pre-mature sparkling.

In this body it was harder for me to conceal my emotions, especially without the help of my trusty battle mask.

Wanting to turn my attention to something else, I once again looked at the white ball that I left on the "toilet".

I picked it up with one hand and exanimated it with the other.

It was soft to the touch and looked like it was made of two separate pieces, put together in some strange, un-realistic way.

But before I could even _try_ pulling those pieces away, a loud scream coming from outside the room I was in, interrupted me, making me jump and drop the object.

It sounded a lot like Ms. Darby.

My spark-er-heart jumped to my throat, as I ran toward the sound I was hearing.

She was kneeling on the floor, with her hands covering her face and a piece of paper lieing before her.

"Miss Darby, are you alright?" I asked kneeling down next to my human ally. "What's wrong?"

As a response, she threw herself at me and began crying into my chest, while hugging me for dear life.

I was a bit shocked by her reaction, but it didn't stop me from hugging her back. No matter how distant that feeling felt to me. "Shhh…" I whispered to her ear. "Everything is going to be all right." I added, gently rubbing her back in comfort.

Once she calmed down a bit, I decided it was time for me to find out, what was wrong. "Now…Miss Darby." I said in the softest voice, I could muster. "Tell me what's wrong."

She looked up at me, tears still flowing down her face.

"He's going to take Jack."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Our little game."

#June's POV:

I couldn't believe what I was reading!

Joe, after openly rejecting Jack, was _fighting_ for his parental privileges, saying that the boy needs a father in his life and asking for the boy to live with him in Ohio, for at least half the time he spend with me.

 _Half_ the time he _spent_ with _me_?!

I _raised_ him!

He practically lived with me all his life!

And he's turning 17 in a couple of weeks!

 _Seventeen_!

And during all those years, Jack hasn't seen his father once, ONCE!

The judges said that, Joe Hans Darby has the very right to welcome his son under his roof, as long as I don't have a husband that Jack will accept with me, by the end of this month.

And here's where I began to cry.

After what Jack heard about his father, he wouldn't let any other man near me. He already is tolerant enough to let the Autobots be in the same room with me, and that's only because they earned his complete trust.

And because they were aliens.

There was no way I could find a fiancée by the end of July! Especially one Jack will be willingly calling "dad".

I dropped to my knees and screamed in my hands.

That moment, I hated Joe Hans Darby with all my heart! I wished him the worst possible death! I wanted him to feel the same pain I feel right now! He's nothing but a bastard! He has no right to separate a mother from her child! I'll…I'll…-!

Before I could rant more, I heard Optimus's voice:

"Ms. Darby, are you alright?" He asked in the calm yet worried baritone of his. It always managed to calm me down, no matter the situation.

Normally I wouldn't seek comfort in a person I barely knew, but…today was not a normal day. Desperate for somebody's closeness, I lunched at the humanized autobot. Hugging him for dear life and crying to his chest.

I could feel him tense for a second. As if he didn't experience such closeness for a long, long time. And, in a way, that didn't surprise me. He was in war for a longer period of time than any human could live and there are no children robots around him, after all.

That however, didn't stop him from hugging me back and whispering comforting words to my ear.

I felt so safe in his strong, protective arms. They were just so warm, so welcoming and so strangely familiar.

I could see why the children always called him "father bot". He just _felt_ like a father.

What he does for me know, just proves that he's always ready to comfort his friends.

Even if he himself is stuck in a body and world, that he knows almost nothing about.

Slowly but surely, I began to calm down. My breath still shaky and hot tears still marking his new clothes.

"Now…Miss Darby." He said in a soft, comforting voice. "Tell me what's wrong."

I looked up at him.

His blue eyes, though lighter than mine, reflected the same worry mine did, as well as determination to make things right.

I admired that, though there isn't much the Autobot leader could do to help.

"He's going to take Jack." My voice managed to choke out.

His eyes first widened slightly, before narrowing dangerously. Something told me that, if he was a robot, his battle mask would cover his face that very moment.

"Who?" Even though his voice was calm, there was a hidden ferocity in it that I'm sure nobody ever heard before. You could tell he was angry, just by listening to the tone his using to speak.

"My ex-husband, Joe." I whipped. "And there is no way, I can stop him from doing so." By the end of those words, I was already crying again. Hiding from the cruel world that wanted to take my son away, in Optimus's arms.

"There always, is way." He said, with years of experience backing up his statement. "If you cannot see it, you'll just have to make it."

For a minute, I just listened to the sound of his heartbeat. It was such a natural sound for me to hear yet…somehow it sounded…different.

It had its own personal rhythm just like mine, only his was beating stronger and slower.

Lulling me with its calm pounding against his ribcage.

I thought back to the letter I received, and to the conditions it presented to me.

Yes, Optimus was right, there was another way. But I had no time to go through with it, unless I find the perfect man to _pretend_ being my fiancée, so that Jack will stay with me.

And, soon enough, a part of my brain was wondering if I was stupid or blind.

' _Come on June!_ ' A voice in my head yelled. ' _Think about it! Who would be the_ perfect _father figure for Jack? Somebody he A) Looks up to, B) Trusts and C) Respects. And you know ONE person, who fits the bill perfectly. Who is it?_ '

I thought for a minute.

 _Agent Fowler?_ I asked the voice.

' _No!_ ' It yelled. ' _Are you blind?! He's RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!_ '

I snuck a peek at the man hugging me, he seemed lost in his thoughts looking at the painting of a forest, on the wall before him.

 _Optimus?_ I thought _. No. That will never work. Ratchet wouldn't let him stay human. The stakes are too high, for Prime to be taken of the war._ Though I had to admit, that proposition was tempting.

' _Maybe._ ' The voice insisted. ' _But who said Optimus couldn't_ pretend _to be your future husband? And don't you dare think he won't do that, because he will. For Jack_.'

I thought about it and…surprisingly that sounded like a good solution.

The only problem is, I don't know if Jack will agree to play a role in our little game. And his participation is crucial.

I thought so hard, I didn't realize that I dozed off in to the land of dreams.

#Optimus's POV:

It took me a while to realize Ms. Darby fell asleep in my arms, probably because I was so lost in thought about the mysterious person known as 'Joe Darby', who appeared to be Jackson's second "parent".

Even though I never meet him in person, he disgusted me.

During my long life in war, I've seen and fought a lot of evil beings, but none of them would go so far to separate a child from its mother. Even Megatron.

It was like an un-breakable rule, between every living being in the Universe.

'You do not, harm children in any way.'

And nothing is more painful for a child, than to be separated from its loved ones.

Sighting, I shook my head and once more, glanced at the snoozing human.

Chuckling quietly, I moved her head so that it rested on my right arm and placed my let one under her knees. Once that action was complete, I rose slowly to my feet.

Ms. Darby's weigh, even with me being in a human body, was not a problem for my arms to pick up. In fact, I did it rather effortlessly.

Gazing down at her, I realized just how emotionally worn-out she must be.

Finding out somebody is planning to take away her son, must have been very painful.

Knowing from the internet, and the knowledge the children were kind enough to share with me, I knew that humans recharge in places they call "beds".

Recognizing one example of said object, I began walking over to it.

Once I got to my destination, I gently placed Ms. Darby's head on the puffy, square thing, called "pillow" and covered her body with a nearby blanket, since it's too hot to use sheets.

Sending a last glance at my ally's sleeping form, I turned off the lights, and went to find my own place to recharge.


	5. Chapter 5

"Human."

Chapter 5

"Nightmare."

 _I laughed, as Jack splashed me with some water._

 _The day was beautifully sunny and warm, so I decided to take my son on a small field trip to the lake._

 _I smiled at how happy Jack sounded when he was swimming around in the clean, blue water and leaned on Optimus's shoulder with my head. He was sitting right next to me in his human form, one of his arms warped around me and the other supporting our shared weight. The Autobot leader was chuckling as well, when Jack decided he wasn't wet enough._

 _I closed my eyes and turned my head to the warm sun._

 _Everything was just perfect._

 _I smiled, at my next thought._

 _My family was complete._

 _Then, just like that, everything felt incredibly_ cold _._

 _And it wasn't sunny anymore._

 _I opened my eyes just to see the giant form of Joe Darby coming out of the water…_

 _Holding a gun._

 _My eyes widened in fear even more, as he completely left the lake._

 _He was dressed in his usual blue-brown truck-driver suit, with his beer fed belly hanging limply from the rest of his body, while he moved._

 _He was as big as Megatron._

 _A familiar scream fills my ears and my heart_ stops.

 _Joe had Jack._

 _He was squeezing the poor boy in his left hand, while laughing at the pained expression on my face._

 _"JACK!" I tried to run up to him, but the ground wouldn't let me. It felt as if, I was glued to it._

 _"MOM!" My son yelled, losing conscious because of the lack of air._

 _"JACK! JOE, STOPP THAT!" I yelled, desperately. "YOU'RE GOING TO KILL HIM! STOP THAT!"_

 _But the abomination of a man, only looked at me with those silver-blue eyes. Happy to see me suffer, happy to hear me squirm and soon..._

 _Happy to see me die, knowing that I did nothing to stop him from killing my child._

 _He smiles, that cold hearted smile of his and points his gun at me._

 _Because that's everything he ever wanted, and he even promised it to me after the trial against him ended._

 _"I want to make sure you suffer the same way I did, before you die."_

 _I had no idea what "suffering" he was talking about, but that didn't matter. He was a madman. The quote on quote "suffering", could be just him imagining himself suffer._

 _"Mom…" My eyes widened more than ever before, that was my son's last breath._

 _Joe Hans Darby has_ killed _my son._

 _JAAAAAAACK! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!_

 _He actually did it._

 _I suddenly feel cold._

 _THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!_

 _He laughs even more as he pulled the trigger._

 _I closed my eyes, readying myself for the pain to come._

Bang! _The bulled flew._

 _And then…it hit._

 _But it didn't meet its destination._

 _I opened my eyes, confused to why I'm still alive, to see Joe glaring at somebody in front of me with a hateful glare._

 _And then…I saw Optimus._

 _God, I almost forgot about Optimus._

 _And then, it hit me._

 _PRIMUS! NO!_

 _He was standing right in front of me, shaking slightly and hands spread protectively…with a tiny red dot in the center of his back._

 _NO…NONONONONONONONO NOOOOO!_

 _This time…the ground let me move, although very slowly._

 _Optimus, coughed out blood._

 _I was in the middle of getting up._

 _The leader of the Autobots looked at the bullet hole, somehow still being able to stand._

 _I was finally at my feet._

 _He turned to face me, and I saw the slight shock in his eyes that he couldn't withstand the hit, that he wasn't bulletproof anymore. There was more…he was smiling an apologetic smile. As if he was apologizing for not being able to protect and save Jack, apologizing that he couldn't do more._

 _I felt even more tears falling down my cheeks, as he coughed out more blood and fell to his knees._

 _That moment, time finally let me move faster._

 _But before I was able to reach him, Optimus was already on his stomach, with blood starting to die the grass near his chest._

 _I kneeled next to him and pushed him to his back._

 _He was barely awake and the sound of his breathing was so ragged, it scared me._

 _"Optimus, Optimus stay with me!" I yelled grasping his face with my hands. "You're going to be okay, just look at me!" When he finally focused his eyes on me, they were beginning to fade._

 _"I'm…sorry…June." He managed to whisper, his voice weaker than I ever heard it._

 _"No, no don't say that." My voice began to crack. "It wasn't your fault, I don't blame you for anything."_

 _He reached out with his right hand, and gently touched my chin. "Don't…cry." With his last remaining strength, he wiped a tear away with his thumb._

 _I smiled through my pain and grasped his hand with my own. Even on his deathbed, he's still trying to make me feel better._

 _"Why did you do this Optimus?" I asked quickly, realizing that he was falling asleep. "Why did you throw your life away like that?!"_

 _He answered, but his voice was barely a whisper. "Because if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to live with myself."_

 _Then, still grunting in pain, he pulled my head down with his arm…_

 _And kissed me._

 _I was so shocked, I had no idea what to do._

 _The kiss however, was not very long. Just as I returned it, it was already gone._

 _All that as left was his cold, lifeless body in my arms._

 _"No…" I started, shaking my head. "No…You can't be dead. YOU CAN'T!" I grabbed his shirt and began shaking it. "Get up, Optimus Prime! GET, THE HELL, UP!"_

 _But he didn't move so much a muscle._

 _Not knowing what else to do, I hugged him._

 _"Please get up." I whispered._

 _A laugh answered, instead of the autobot leader._

 _It was Joe._

 _"Looks like he ain't planning to, Sweetheart." His voice was colder and more heartless than usual._

 _I look at him with hatred, I never knew I had in me._

 _"DON'T CALL ME SWEETHEART!" I blew._

 _But he didn't listen to me at all, just gestured to the two male bodies he created._

 _"Such a shame I must say." He said. "They both looked like good lads, too bad they had the misfortune to be associated with you."_

 _I couldn't stand it anymore!_

 _"Go ahead Joe!" I screamed at him. "Shoot me! Kill me! Get your revenge!" I paused. "There is no Optimus to save me now." I added whispering._

 _But…all he did was smile._

 _"Sorry June." Joe dropped the giant gun. "Out of bullets."_

 _#End of dream:_

I screamed as I shot up in my bed, griping the blanket that covered me so tightly my knuckles were white.

My face was covered in sweat and my breath was ragged.

It took me about a minute to convince myself, that all I saw was just a bad dream and not reality and another one to calm my scared body down.

Holding my hand on my heart, I turned to look at the clock.

12:10 p.m.

I groaned, it was the middle of the night.

And I'm definitely not going back to sleep.

At least...not alone.

I grabbed my pillow and blanket, and left the dark room to find Prime.

It turned out, I didn't have to search far. He was splattered on the couch in the living room, with one leg on the furniture and the other dandling of it. Same with his giant hands.

And he was snoring quietly.

I breathed out a sigh of relief, when I heard him snoring. Now I was sure everything I saw, was just a stupid dream.

Giggling quietly at how silly he looked, I walked up to the edge of the couch, and pulled out the hidden bottom it possessed. It wasn't just any couch, it was a special one you could turn into a bed whenever needed.

And right now…I needed it.

Lieing down on the new part of the "couch-bed", as Jack called it, I pulled the sleeping Optimus closer to me. He didn't object.

Once he was close enough, I pulled the blanked over our bodies, wrapped his right hand around me to keep warm and used his chest as a pillow.

And, just like that, I knew I won't have another nightmare.


	6. Chapter 6

"Human."

Chapter 6

"Watched."

#Optimus's POV:

 _I was back on Cybertron, drinking a cold energion drink in a bar along with Ironhide and Jazz._

 _It was a memory of the good old days before the war, it was one of the few memories I had constantly during recharge, that occurred before everything decided it was to perfect and crumbled to Pit, before my friend Megatronus declared himself Megatron, and before I watched the two die by decepticon hands._

 _"Well Pax." My old friend said, placing a servo on my shoulder. "Ya did a fine job today on the training grounds." Ironhide said, grinning at me._

 _"Yeah." Jazz caught up. "I heard you beat up Ultra Magnus pretty badly back there."_

 _I shrugged, taking a sip of my drink. Somehow it didn't have a particular taste in my mouth, which was disturbing, it usually had a very strong taste. "No mayor harm was done." I said, my voice surprisingly younger and cockier. "Except, maybe to his pride."_

 _Jazz laughed. "Ya, that guy has much too much of that one. Alpha Trion told him a billion times before, that it_ will _be his down fall someday."_

 _"Who will be your next opponent Orion?" Ironhide asked._

 _And that question made my spark stop._

 _When was the last the last time somebody called me, "Orion"?_

 _Shaking my head I decided to ignore that._

 _Jazz decided to answer for me. "A new guy, calls himself Crossfire. Guessing from age I'd say he didn't get into many fights." He added showing Ironhide a pic of a brown mech, on his transmitter screen._

 _"It will be over quickly." I said, surprised at my attitude._

 _Was I really_ that _cocky?_

 _Jazz laughed again. "Now, now Pax. Don't get to cocky yourself. Just because you defeated Magnus, doesn't mean Crossfire can't take you down."_

 _I laughed._

 _When was the last time I laughed so freely?_

 _"Worry yourselves none." I said. "With the new training I receive from Megatronus every week, I can take down anybody."_

 _I scowled. Those "training sessions" are probably one of the few reasons, Megatron can hold up against me so well._

 _After all, most of the moves I use, I learned from him._

 _Against everything I heard about him at that time, he turned out to be an excellent teacher._

 _Ironhide rolled his eyes, and handed me another cup. "Here, have a try with this one. Bulkhead said it's better than the one we drink on a regular basis."_

 _Having nothing better to do, I just took it._

 _The moment I moved it over my odor sensors, a strong scent of, what humans call, "cotton candy" and-_

 _Stop._

 _Rewind._

 _There is no "cotton candy" in Cybertron._

 _#in the real world#_

I blinked, slowly waking up form, what appeared to be, my first "dream".

My vision was blurry, and felt as if I was walking through fog. I reached out one of my hands, which seemed to be wrapped around something, and rubbed the fog away.

What I saw, made my heart stop.

I was lieing on the bed-sofa, with my hands around June Darby's body and nose buried in her thick black hair.

That moment all I could think was:

 _What the Pit?!_

I jumped with a short scream, freeing her from my grasp and backed up to the wall breathing heavily, as if I just had an encounter with Megatron.

Her head landed safely on the nearby pillow, without disturbing her sleep. With was comforting, because I didn't feel like confronting her right now.

My heart was pounding like an angered drum player, I was gulping air like a drowning man and had cold sweat pour down my skin.

But that didn't disturb me the most.

What did, was the fact that I actually _enjoyed_ it, that I _let_ her get so close to me, even though we barely knew each other, and that I actually _welcomed_ the warmth she brought.

I scowled myself, mentally.

I shouldn't be reacting like that! I am an Autobot commander, for Pit's sake! And an alien! I _shouldn't_ be doing… _things,_ with human allies! Especially if they're female, and I just _happen_ to be turned into a human _male_!

At the thought of what _could have_ happened, my face was once more decorated with a blush.

Primus, I'm starting to act like a pre-mature Autobot teenager!

I closed my eyes, trying to recall how I ended up sleeping in a bed, before I lose any more of my dignity.

I remembered walking around the house looking for a place to recharge, and that the first place I chose was called a "table". Reason being, that it looked remarkably similar to the things we used back in the base.

But, a mere hour later, I woke up with a terrible pain in my back that suggested a change of location. Apparently, humans don't sleep on hard materials and prefer ones, which are softer.

That led me back to the living room and the sofa.

It seemed that Ms. Darby joined me, after I have fallen into recharge.

Although I was rather curious to why she did that, it appeared that my "stomach" had other plans. It growled loudly, introducing me to the feeling called "hunger" in the World Wide Web.

Sighting, I carefully got out of bed and headed towards the dining area, where I was certain humans hold "food" in.

As I tiptoed to the "kitchen", I spotted a couple of photographs hanging on the walls, in the line of my eyesight.

Whoever placed them there, must have been really tall or used a chair.

The first one showed Ms. Darby hugging a little human, dressed in a "cowboy" suit.

My best guess it that the little human, must have been Jackson Darby in the age of a sparkling. The photo also had an interesting background in the form of a desert and there was also a dry cow skull, next to the boy's foot.

Even though the picture presented the whole Darby family, I couldn't help but think that something was missing.

The answer in flesh and blood, presented itself to me in the form of the next picture.

It showed a younger Nurse Darby, kissing a man unknown to me.

My eyes narrowed.

That must be the "Joe Darby" I've heard so much about. He was the man June Darby feared would take her son away, as well as the only human being I pared with M.E.C.H. In my eyes, he was an enemy.

He was quite tall, not as tall as me but taller than Fowler, had short blond hair and appeared to be a truck driver. That realization made guilt bloom in my chest. Who knows how much painful memories I must-have triggered, with my transformation into a semi.

Sighting, I decided it was no use crying over spilled Energion. What was done, was done.

Taking both photos into my hands, I tried to picture the family together.

But instead of Joe Darby appearing next to the smiling Jack, somehow I pictured myself there. Shaking my head to clear it, I tried again only to get the same result.

I sighted, hanging back the photos.

It was true that I wanted to settle down and have a family, but in my current situation…it wasn't possible.

And it probably won't be till the day I die, because Megatron won't stop fighting as long as I'm there to oppose him.

Sighting again, I continued my way to the kitchen.

Little did I know, that I was being watched.

#somewhere outside:

A dark figure watched the man in the Darby's household, walk towards the kitchen.

"Sir." He said to the walky-talky, in his hand. "It seems that your lady found herself a new man."

A rough voice answered, from the other side. "That bitch! She wants to ruin my plans! What does he look like?!"

"Tall, like really tall, short black hair, blue eyes and very muscular." He paused. "If you ask me, he look like he's been through war. Must be a fighter. Regular thugs won't do the trick this time boss."

A low growl, hit his ears. "Very well. Tell Killer Strike I have a new job for him. The guy must be gone by the end of this week!"

"Yes sir!"


	7. Chapter 7

JA107: Hi guys, miss me?! Sorry for the slow update but I kinda had 'writers block' and it…well, blocked me. I'm also very sorry about the lackey Optimus POV, because even though I love the character (he's my favorite from the "Transformers" series ^^ PS: Don't tell Bumblebee, it will break his heart ;) ) he is _unbelievably_ hard to write! *sight* Oh, well. "Gotta keep trying" as my grandma always said (just kidding, my grandma doesn't talk like that ;) ) Righty, with that out of the way…I'm practically keeping you hungry hyenas, from your beloved story, aren't I?

You: *nods with saliva dropping down your mouth*

JA107: Alright, alright! I'll give you your story, geez! And _stop_ drooling! You're ruining my beloved carpet!

You: *barks angrily and bares teeth*

JA107: Okay, okay fine! You can drool all over it, just don't touch me! Alright, here you go, the seventh chapter of "Human". There, ya happy?

You: *nods happily*

JA107: You better. Now if you excuse me, I have a carpet I need to clean. *leaves*

"Human."

Chapter 7

"Let the show, begin."

June's POV:

I woke up to the smell of sweet maple syrup and the sound of sizzling oil.

Rubbing my eyes tiredly I realized Optimus wasn't sleeping right next to me. Smiling fondly at the memory of last night, I got out of bed and dressed myself in my usual nurse clothing.

I can't remember the last time, I slept so peacefully and had so much energy to burn. And considering yesterday's events, it even more shocking that I didn't have any nightmares while having Prime so close to me.

Usually I can't stand the thought of having another man with me in bed.

Even when I _did_ allow one of my boyfriends to share it with me, I'd ask them to sleep on their side of the bed and not come anywhere near me. If they did, I'd just scream bloody murder and run away to Jack's room. The nightmares of Joe touching and doing…things, to my body were simply too much for me.

But whit Optimus that _never_ happened.

Whenever I sensed a bad dream creeping from behind a corner, I could feel his hug tighten, pulling me closer to his protective arms. The whole night I was plagued by happy-go-lucky dreams filled with candy, rainbows and warm sunshine. I just felt so… _safe_.

My smile only widened as I stretched my arms out. Boy, when was the last time I woke up so cheerful and carefree? Seriously, I felt better after that one night with Optimus, than after a whole week spent in SPA.

With him, all my problems seemed to disappear, leaving me feeling so light I swear, I'd fly out if the window was open!

God, I just feel so _free_!

My flow of thoughts was interrupted by a loud growl from my stomach and I remember that yesterday, me and Prime didn't have supper.

I frowned. No wonder I'm starving, all I ate yesterday was a tiny cupcake and a mug of tea. I _was_ about to make myself a nice, small supper but the stuff with the Autobot leader happened and…I guess, I fell asleep before I could ask Prime if he was hungry.

That very moment my nose caught the scent of pancakes and maple syrup and I practically turned into a zombie, seeking food.

Slowly I made my way to the kitchen, admiring the scent of fresh, good food.

I was so occupied with the promise of food, I didn't bother asking myself _who_ made them.

However, if I _did_ this would probably not be my answer.

There, in the small kitchen I designed especially for myself, stood Optimus Prime. Flipping the perfectly done pancakes like a professional cook and humming quietly to himself as he listened to the radio, playing quietly in the right corner.

For a couple of seconds I just stood there, dumbfullded.

Ever since I reached the kitchen door, I expected to see Jack, doing his best to flip the pancakes without any of them landing on the dirty floor.

 _Not_ Optimus Prime, _leader_ of the _Autobots,_ an _alien_ , being able to do that better than Chef _Ramsey_.

"Good morning, Ms. Darby." The taller male's voice pulled me out of though, as he turned around to face me with a small smile. "Would you care for a pancake?" He asked, gesturing to the filled plate at the table.

I giggled, that little surprise doing nothing to dampen my mood. "Good morning to you too, Optimus. And, I would _love_ to try one of your delicious creations." I gave him one of my special smiles, which were usually reserved for Jack, and sat down to drown my share in syrup.

As I proceeded to delicately cut through the first pancake, reviling the fluffy yellow insides, Prime sat in the chair across from mine and watched me with an amused look on his face.

I tried to ignore him, to prevent the blush that was threatening to show up on my face, as I places the first piece into my mouth.

The minute it landed on my tongue, it felt as if heaven itself exploded in my mouth. Those pancakes were _perfect!_ There was absolutely _nothing_ wrong with them!

I looked at the man in front of me, calmly chewing on his share of pancakes.

Even after knowing him for such a long time, he still manages to surprise me. He really _is_ a box full of secrets.

Suddenly, I hear him chuckle. "I see you woke up in a good mood today, Ms. Darby." Optimus said with a playful spark in his eyes.

I smiled back at him. After all, it was all thanks to him I slept so peacefully tonight.

"In deed I did, Prime." I grinned. "And those pancakes of yours, just made it even better."

"I'm glad to be of service, Ms. Darby." He answered smiling gently as he sliced his flapjack, as if he did it all his life.

A minute of comfortable silence passed though and I wondered, if I should ask him to take part in my 'Keep Jack with me' plan, right now.

He seems as if he already accepted to the thought of being human for a longer period of time, though, to be honest, he so restrained in showing emotions, you actually never know what goes though that head of his.

I took a deep breath, deciding it was now or never.

"Optimus?" He looked up from his pancakes at the sound of his name. "I…though about what you said yesterday and…" His head slowly straitened up full high and he put on his serious face. "You were right, there is another way."

"Oh?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and nodding for me to continue.

"The thing is-" I bit my lip. "For that 'other way' to work, I'm going to need your help."

His eyebrow went up even higher, if that was even possible.

"You see…Jack needs…a foster father in order to stay with me and…if it's not a problem…could you _pretend_ to be my fiancée, in front of the judge?"

His big blue eyes blinked at me for a minute, before his mouth finally opened with a sight.

"Although I do not like the idea of lieing to the local authorities…" Optimus started, rubbing his chin with thought. "But, if it is to prevent you and Jackson's separation, I suppose I could make an exception."

I never felt so happy in my entire life, without a moment of hesitation, I ran up to him and hugged his taller frame, muttering 'thank you, thank you' over and over again.

Optimus Prime was now, literally, my lord and savior. If this works out, I promise to do _everything_ to help him get back his Autobot form.

Before he could react to my euphoria, my cellphone called.

"Scrap." I muttered, pulling away from him. "Give me I minute, I'll be right back." I mentioned for him to finish his pancakes and ran towards the phone.

Whoever was calling, better have a good reason for it.

With one swift movement, I flipped it open. "Hello, June Darby speaking."

"Good morning, Ms. Darby." Uh-oh, that voice only belonged to one person.

Mr. Kowalski. Jack's principal.

"Good morning, Mr. Kowalski." I blur out. "To what, I owe this…unexpected call?"

"Ms. Darby, I'm afraid to inform you that your son, Jackson has gotten into a fight last night with his classmate, Vincent."

 _A fight?! Dear god!_

"What happened?" I ask as calmly as I can.

"Fortunately none of the boys are seriously hurt." I breathe out a breath of relief. "However, I want to meet up with you and Jackson's father, to talk about his last night's behavior." And I began feeling tense again. "Jackson is waiting here at the school, for you and his father to take him home after a meeting. I'll be seeing the both of you, shortly."

With that he hug up.


	8. Chapter 8

"Human."

Chapter 8

"Fire and Ice."

Disclaimer: The only thing I own are Joe Darby, Mr. Kowalski, Cedric Farrell and the small Optimus plushy I keep on my desk, in my room.

#In Mr. Kowalski's office:

 _You've done it this time, Darby_. Jack thought as he tried to sink into his chair, nodding his head shamefully, as he waited for Mr. Kowalski to return. _Not only will mom get busted for both the fight and my worsening grades, but Mr. Kowalski asked for my_ father _to come as well._ He tensed at the thought of his biological dad.

He may have never encountered the man in person but he knew, from the pictures at home, that Joe Darby was no small male. And he definitely didn't look like that delicate type of dad, one that offered a stern lecture and helpful advice if his child ever got a bad grade.

No.

To Jack, Joe Darby looked more like a typical abusive father. One that beats his children if they get anywhere below grade "B".

"Way the go, Darby." An angry voice said from his left, Jack then turned to glare at the taller individual in the chair, next to him. "Thanks to you, dad will ground me for another week! And no videogames for another two!" Vincent groaned, nursing a black eye.

"Thanks to me? Thanks to ME?!" The younger Darby yelled, getting up from his chair. "In case you don't remember, _Vince._ " He spat. " _You_ were the one who hit _me_ , back at Howard's party!"

"Well you could have just listened to me like you always did, and let me talk to Mary!" The taller boy wasn't going to be worse, he stood up and took a few steps towards Jack.

"First of all, lay of Mary. She doesn't like you that way! Will you finally get that though, that thick skull of yours?! Second of all, I'm sick and tired of being your punching bag! Don't you dare come near me again, or that eye won't be the only thing you're nursing." Jack hoped his threat was enough to convince Vincent that it wasn't worth attacking him, again. Because, if he was honest with himself, the fact that he even got one hit on the bully, was a mere miracle.

Especially when he knew about Vincent's training, with his father.

It was a well-known fact in his school, that Vincent's father was a famous kick-boxer, called Shatter Skull that won the world kick-box completion _twice_ in a row. Vincent never ceased to gloat about his training sessions with the legendary, Cedrick Farrell and that he's being groomed to be the man's heir for the title of best kick-boxer.

The only reason Jack even got to give him that black eye, was because the taller teen was _drunk_. Normally if he'd try something like this, he'd be left beaten before the last period ended.

Unfortunately for him, Vincent knew perfectly just how big his advantage is, over him.

"That all ya got, Darby?" He asked, cracking his knuckles. "Because my grandma could make up a scarier threat, than-"The young Farrell was cut short by voices from behind the door.

Both Vincent and Jack moved towards the door, to hear better.

"It's a pleasure to finally see a father figure in Jackson's life, Mr. Parkinson." The principal's voice said happily. "The poor boy grew up without a father in his life, so it's good to know Ms. Darby found a good replacement."

But before the next voice had the chance to answer, a loud bang echoed form the other side as the entrance door banged, bouncing of the next wall.

Jack flinched at the sound there was no doubt who entered the school halls, it was confirmed by Vincent's triumphant smile.

"Where is that, boy?!" Cedrick Farrell yelled from the other side of the door. "This is the third time he's got my son into a fight! Mr. Kowalski, this is getting out of control! I demand this boy to be suspended!"

That moment Vincent managed to crook the door open a bit and Jack could see who his, supposed, "Foster father" looked like. And, boy was surprised with what he got.

The man was like Mr. Farrell's height, had raven-black hair and sharp blue eyes. He was no wimp too, his muscles looked just as big as the kick-boxer champion's.

I do not think this situation requires such drastic measures." The stranger said in Jack's defense, in a voice the boy could recognize anywhere. "A simple week of detention should be enough."

 _That voice…_ Jack though, eyes wide. _It couldn't be..._

The minute those words left the stranger's mouth, Cedrick was already in his face.

"Oh, so you're the brat's daddy, eh?" The distance between the two large males, enclosed drastically and Jack could tell that the Kick-boxing master was looking for a fight. "Well, aren't you the perfect father. Allowing your son to beat up my Vincent without a reason, during classes?!"

"I do not know why the fight begun, or what you were told by your son." The blue eyed stranger answered calmly, his unnaturally colored eyes narrowing to slits. "But I do know, Jack. And he would never attack a fellow classmate, without being provoked." He folded his large arms on his chest and his eyes became colder by the minute. "Perhaps you're the one being lied to, by your son."

That minute, Jack didn't have any doubt that the person posing as his 'foster father' was indeed, Optimus Prime.

Even though he still had a lot of questions swimming in his brain (like: Why is Prime a human?!) all he could focus on right now, was the silent battle between Optimus and Mr. Farrell.

If he had to describe it in a few words, he'd say it looked like a battle between Fire and Ice.

On one hand stood the humanized Autobot Leader, glaring coldly at his adversary. Arms folded protectively over his chest, looking tall and unyielding. His glare cold enough to freeze lava.

On the opposite side was Mr. Farrell, shaking with hot rage. His brown eyes sparkling with the fires of hell, hands clinched into fists and ready to strike.

The room was completely silent. Even Mr. Kowalski kept quiet, not wanting to get between the two angry giants.

Jack knew Optimus well enough, to know that he'll not back away from the challenge. Especially when Vincent's father just accused him (Jack) of attacking the taller boy, which he knew wasn't true. All the humanized Autobot wanted, was for the aggressive man to back of and calm down.

Cedrick Farrell was a completely different story. He just wanted a fight and, after seeing that the man before him didn't shake in fear at the mere sight of him, he saw Prime as a worthy opponent.

Suddenly, the kick-boxer smiled.

Optimus seamed to know what that means, because the cold aura around him turned even colder.

"I do not wish to fight you." He said, his baritone low and dangerous.

"To bad." Farrell said though gritted teeth. "I was just about to take this outside."

"Now, now, gentlemen." The principal said in a shaky voice. "No need to start a fight."

But the aggressive man was beyond talking. "Outside. Now." After saying those words, he left the office.

Jack half hoped the Autobot leader would follow and kick the warrior's butt, but the more rational side of him wished that Prime would ignore the challenge and stay.

But, to his surprise, Optimus sighted and with a somewhat sad look on his face, followed the enraged man outside. There was no use in ignoring the kick-boxer. He'd just attack when they left the office.

When he left, Jack could see the triumphant look on Vincent's face.

"Your dad is going down." He said with a smug smile.

JA107: Now don't you give me that 'Those-situation's-don't-happen-in-real-life' look! I've seen a lot of parents ready to get into a fight to protect their young. Even when the child is lieing. And Mr. Farrell just happened to be an aggressive, hot-headed, easy angered, kick-boxer that is feared by everybody. Nobody ever dared to stand up to him, and well, when a fellow warrior like Optimus comes along, he just had to see what the guy's made of. Besides, what better way to get rid of 'Vincent problem's' than by showing him that his _undefeatable_ dad, actually can get defeated?

PS: If you're wondering where June is, she went to talk with Jack's teachers and sent Optimus ahead to meet the principal.

PPS: Cedrick Farrell is NOT what he seams.


	9. Chapter 9

"Human."

Chapter 9

"The man on the rooftop."

Warning: Short, will give you a heart attack.

The city was lively that day.

Cars were riding full speed, people chatting on phones while running to work, bikers roaring with their engines and dogs barking at cats.

The sounds of the city overpowering anything else that could be heard by the human ear.

One of those noises was the sound of bullet shell's being tosses up and down, in a masked man's hand.

Said man was looking though the sniper rifle from his spot on the rooftop, waiting for his partner and their target to arrive in sight.

He had no idea why his boss wanted the poor guy dead. All he knew was that he was going to give a large amount of money for bringing his head to him, on a silver platter.

Shrugging he took another stabilizing breath and checked the other corners in the alley Farrell was supposed to lead the target, too.

Still no Farrell, still no prey.

He thought about shooting to the metal trashcans for practice but decided against it. If his boss had to resort to hiring _him_ to do the job, then whoever he's targeting must be dangerous.

Shooting at the metal lids might blow his cover and he didn't want the money, he so desperately needs right now, to wave 'bye-bye' before he even had the chance to reach out to them.

Angry footsteps echoed in the small alley he was patrolling and the masked man turned his sniper rifle towards the source of the sound, looking pretty disappointed when all he saw was his hotheaded partner.

The damnable kick-boxer had an uncanny short temper that was, in many ways, why their boss paired them up together.

Cedric would act impulsively, which was in his nature, dare their target into a one-on-one battle in a alley while he himself would wait patiently for a perfect headshot.

They've done it a billion times before, so the routine is well known to the both of them.

After keeping an eye on his enraged partner, his sensors picked up another set of footsteps, so the sniper turned to the individual that followed after Farrell.

Immediately, after getting a good look on the guy's face, his special helmet began a careful analysis on his person.

 _Name: ?_

 _Surname: ?_

 _Nationality: Probably American._

 _Age: Late thirties/early forties._

 _Height: 191 cm_

 _Weight: 90 kg. (Sorry we don't operate on pounds in Poland *chuckles nervously*)_

 _Extra info: muscle analysis show a mastery in karate, kung-Fu, swordsmanship, sharpshooting, box, kick-boxing and many more unidentified martial arts, has scars made both by sword and bullets, strength: above normal, speed: above normal._

Seeing all this pop up in front of his vision the masked man nodded, accepting this information into equation.

What unnerved him was the fact that his computer didn't say the man's name, usually it could identify anybody by comparing his/her face to that of about a gazillion other people in the world. He couldn't understand why it didn't work now.

Either the guy has hidden his identity insanely well, or Cedric messed with his tools again.

He was more ready to go for the second option. Nobody can conceal his/her identity so well, it just isn't possible.

Shaking his head he focused at the unsuspecting head in his eye sight, in just a matter of minutes the guy will feel a sharp pain in his right temple and then…nothing.

It will be over before he'll realize what's going on.

It's like killing a toad for dissection on college. You need to do it fast so that the creature can't tell its being killed.

And he liked killing toads for biology classes, it was his favorite activity in the whole time table.

Smiling at the warm memories that flooded his mind for a second he watched the man narrow his eyes at Cedrick, his stance tensing and becoming more defensive.

The damn fool probably said something stupid again.

He snorted rolling his eyes.

Typical.

Right, it was time he saved Farrell's ass again. After reading the information gathered on the man's physique, he has serious doubts the hothead would win this fight, were it to take place.

Placing his steady finger on the trigger, he moved the rifle in the direction of the man's temple.

 _Five more seconds._

The guy's stance didn't change, eyes fixed on Cedrick.

 _Four._

Large hands balled into fists and the sniper could see he was clinching his jaws tightly.

 _Three._

The man's back straightened suddenly, as if he felt somebody run cold fingers over it.

 _Two._

In a blur the man's head turned around in alarm, his unnatural eyes landing exactly on his position on the roof.

 _One._

His target's eyes widened in realization.

He smiled.

 _Bang!_


	10. Chapter 10

"Human."

Chapter 10

"The fight."

Even though his mind was still frozen in cold shock, his body reacted _immediately_ after the threat was presented to it.

Ducking harshly to the left with instinctual ease, Optimus Prime barely dodged the bullet that landed in the wall behind him.

Breathing heavily the humanized Autobot leader tried calm down his freighted heart, as he hid behind a nearby dumpster for cover.

He should probably be thanking, Primus his instincts and reactions were as sharp and fast in this body, as they were in his old one. If they weren't, he'd be lying on the ground with a nice, new hole in his forehead.

While he calmed down, he tried to pinpoint who could want him dead, since…there was quite an army of those, to be honest. However, the most accurate option, AKA Megatron, had no idea he was a human now. For all the evil Lord of Decepticons knew, he could be reunited with the Allspark 24 hours ago.

The sound of something small and metallic hitting the floor, made him turn his head towards the rooftop directly across him.

Whoever was up there, just dropped a used bullet shell. Even from the considerable distance that stood between him and the shining object, Optimus could see it was a sniper bullet.

His blue eyes narrowed at the dark figure reloading his gun.

Snipers were a _nightmare_ on the battlefield, especially for robots like him and Bulkhead.

His reasons being the fact that he was too tall, painted like a bullseye and had weak head protectors. The last fact was commonly used by Megatron during their fights, the traitorous robot constantly aiming every hit for his helmet.

One headshot from a Decepticon Sniper could knock him out entirely, which is why he avoided those like fire.

Bulkhead was to slow and to…bulky. He was the personification of the term 'perfect target' that was used in Sharpshooter School's, back on Cybertron.

Another bullet flew inches away from his ear and he was forced to duck further behind the dumpster. The Sniper was still trying to shoot him and, after a couple of misses, the ex-Autobot realized that the shots were soundless.

Meaning nobody heard the fight going on, so there was no use in waiting for help from the outside.

He was stuck facing an enemy, he didn't have a chance against, even in his true body.

Remembering that the man had to reload every nine shots, Optimus counted every missed hit. Waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

His, seemingly endless, patience was rewarded five shots later, when the gunshots stopped. Getting up the humanized Autobot leader, bottled from behind the trashcan and made a run for the nearest fire escape. Unfortunately, he didn't even make four full steps before a well-placed kick to the head made him see stars and hit his back painfully on the sharp edge of the green dumpster.

Landing on his knees from the impact, Optimus felt something warm and sticky run down his nose, straight to his mouth. It tasted metallic and didn't sit well with his stomach.

"Well, well, well." A voice said in front of him.

He cursed himself under his breath. He was so focused on the Sniper, he forgot all about the aggressive parent.

Alpha Trion would _not_ be pleased with his performance today.

And, frankly, neither was he.

Optimus tried to pick his head up and look the man in the eye, but his head was still pounding from the attack and it was difficult for him to focus.

"I have to say, I'm impressed. No one has ever avoided Killer Strike's bullets." Cedric said with a hint of surprise in his voice. "Especially out in the open. You must be really good, if you managed that."

The Autobot leader didn't really listen as he forced his head to move upwards, scanning the man's posture and looking for weak points to attack.

"Even though what you did was impressive…" Farrell paused cracking his knuckles. "Im afraid you won't be able to tell anyone about it." He took a step forward and Optimus spat out the blood that gathered into his mouth, not taking his eyes of the approaching human. "My boss for some reason wants you dead and dead you shall be. Don't look at me like that, it's nothing personal. Just…business."

The minute those words left the kick-boxers mouth, the humanized robot launched at him with full force, intending to tackle the champion to the ground.

His plan worked as a mere second later, both large males were wrestling their way into the open where a certain Sniper can see them.

#With Sniper:

"Damn it." He cursed as he watched the two men struggle to get on top of each other. This would be a perfect shot…if Cedric wasn't there blocking his view of his target.

He can't shoot now. Not with his damn partner in the way.

They might not see 'eye-to-eye' all the time, but they were close like brothers and Killer Strike wasn't going to risk Cedrick losing his life, to his own gun.

Growling, he focused on reloading his gun and keeping an eye out for the outcome of the wrestling match.

#With Prime:

Everything went according to plan.

Judging by the lack of bullets flying near his ears, Optimus came into concussion that the sharpshooter didn't want to harm his friend. Therefore, he knew the man's weakness and was willing to take advantage of it.

Twisting his body so that he was on the other man's back, the Autobot leader placed his arm under Cedrick's neck and, with the help of his free hand and legs, pulled the kick-boxer to a standing position. All in a similar fashion to a jokey making his horse stand, while also being careful not to strangle the poor fool in the process.

Once they were both on their feet Optimus allowed his hold to weaken, making an opening for Cedrick to 'try-to-break-free', even though that decision might cost him a rib or two.

The kick-boxer didn't disappoint. With surprising strength, he slammed the Autobot leader to the wall behind him and proceeded to hit his ribcage with his sharp elbow.

Though the feeling of having your ribs broken wasn't pleasant, Optimus got exactly what he wanted.

A shield.

Regaining his tight grip on the champion's neck he proceeded to lead him across the open field towards the fire escape, he originally planned on using.

#With Sniper:

Killer Strike cursed the man, with every curse word he knew.

How could he be so _stupid_?! He should have known, he was going to use Cedrick as a shield!

Now there was nothing he could do about it, he had to retreat and hope his partner will make it out okay.

With a last glance at his friend, the Sniper fled the scene.

#With Prime:

Optimus stopped his journey half way through, hearing the distant sound of shoes hitting cement and repressed the urge to curse.

All his hard work went for nothing! He wasn't even going to find out who wanted to shoot him so badly!

"Let…me…go." His captive's voice muffled, struggling to get free.

The leader didn't listen, instead being focused on figuring out a way to question the man, without actually having to kill him in the end.

Optimus knew there were ways to do it, but he never cared to learn them.

He was, and still is, at war. Leaving hostages alive after questioning, was never an option.

And then, as if on que, a distant memory began to play.

It was a few months ago, when he caught the children watching cartoons on Ratchet's computer, instead of doing math homework.

They were watching a man dressed in a dark suit, with strange pointy ears trying to get information from, what looked like a teenager dressed as a 'scarecrow', by holding him by the leg over an empty street and threatening that he'll let him fall.

Optimus didn't remember if the strategy worked in the end, but he did saw that the teen was pretty intimidated by the figures actions.

He looked at the struggling kick-boxer.

Perhaps it's worth a try…

JA107: I can't _believe_ some of you actually though, I was going to kill him off! I feel offended *pouts* I would _never_ do that to my favorite character. I'd rather glorify everything he does with perfection ^^. Anyway, can _you_ guess what cartoon Jack, Raph and Miko were watching that faithful day? ;-)


	11. Chapter 11

"Human."

Chapter 11

"The one decision he may regret."

"I swear, that's all I know!" Cedrick yelled, dandling between the heavens and the hard ground below.

Optimus nodded, tightening his grip on the man's ankle in his crouched position near the edge of the tall building. He frowned.

His arm was getting tired a lot faster than it used to and it worried him. Back in the glorious days when he was a robot, he used to be able to pull up Bulkhead using that hand only, with no problems whatsoever. It unnerved him that he had problems holding the weight of a man his height, while he should be able to lift a lot more.

"Are you certain, you can't tell me anything more?" The autobot asked, his baritone voice deadly serious as he recalled a line the black-clad figure said in the cartoon, all those days ago. "My arm is getting tired." To prove his point Optimus let his grip waver, allowing a bit of the man's leg to slip through his hand.

The kick-boxer's reaction was immediate.

"NO! I SWEAR, I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING BESIDES WHAT I ALREADY TOLD YOU!" There was no lie or deception in his voice that Optimus could detect, which either meant that he was telling the truth or was a great actor. "PLEASE DON'T LET ME FALL! I HAVE A WIFE AND A SON I HAVE TO FEED! PLEASE DON'T LET GO!"

Nodding even though the guy could not see him, Optimus spoke. "Very well." Before stepping away from the edge and letting the petrified man fall on the safe, none threatening ground.

The moment he hit the ground Cedrick curled himself into a ball, his posture shaking and quiet whimpers escaping his mouth.

The humanized autobot raised an eyebrow at this. What this weakling, really the man who wanted to kill him just half an hour ago? The same one that was so confident in his abilities, he challenged him to a duel without considering the fact that he might be stronger?

He shook his head.

Pathetic.

Even Starscream had more dignity that that.

Without even looking at the man, he stepped towards the fire escape. "Get up." He said and the kick-boxer flinched at the sound of his voice. "We have a parents meeting to attend to." With one last glance at the fallen "warrior", Optimus made his way down the ladder.

#In the principal's office:

The moment the humanized autobot leader made his way inside the room, he was greeted with a furious hug from Ms. Darby that reminded him of his cracked ribs.

"Oh, Orion!" She sighted, face buried in his shoulder. "Thank god you're okay." The smaller lady added pulling away, not noticing him wince at the sudden movement. "That brute has a bad habit of beating up people who disagree with him." June shot the said man an angry glare and Cedrick lowered his head, ashamed. Much to his son's bewilderment.

The lady then turned to her 'husband' and gave him a firm, jet gentle glare. "You did not fight him, right?"

Optimus took a second to decide whenever or not to tell the petite human before him the truth, but, before he even managed to open his mouth-

"Of course he did not fight me, Ms. Darby!" All eyes went to the gently sweating Cedrick Farrell. "Mr. Parkinson and I, settled our differences the civil way." The large man's voice sounded serene but neither Mr. Kowalski nor June seemed to buy anything he said. "And I admit that expelling young Jackson would be…far too drastic a punishment for a simple fight. A week long detention should do."

At first Optimus wasn't entirely sure why the man had decided to lie about their fight, but then he spotted the bewildered look on Vincent's face and the answer became clear.

Cedrick Farrell was trying to protect his pride.

If the boxer admitted to having a battle with him, he'd also have to tell them the outcome which was his loss and Optimus's gain.

The autobot leader figured the man would take that rout to protect his reputation as best fighter and, since the kick-boxer didn't sport any serious bleeding wounds, his explanation will remain undoubted.

Suddenly all the eyes moved away from Farrell and landed on him, silently asking for the truth. After the long history of Cedrick beating up people for a simple: "I don't agree.". Optimus suspected his word would be taken as a much more honest one, compared to the boxer's.

His own unrealistically-blue eyes landed first on Jack's, then June's and finally on the brown ones of the man that, not so long ago, wanted nothing more than to see life slip away from his eyes after beating the living hell out of him.

The boxer was silently pleading, _begging_ him to agree to his version of what happened.

Sighting, Optimus cursed his forgiving nature.

For once it probably would have been better if he _did_ hold a grudge, but his heart wouldn't let him be vengeful. After all…he believed in second chances, didn't he? Even if the man would most likely shoot him in the head, five minutes later.

"What Cedrick Farrell said, is true." He stated calmly. "We did not fight."

June was looking at him with narrowed eyes, not believing him and yet knowing that it wasn't in Optimus's nature to lie.

Jack was staring at him with a similar expression to that of his mother, which was just a tad more suspicious.

Vincent's eyes were both wide in fear and narrowed in anger. Was it at him or at his father, Optimus didn't know.

Mr. Kowalski was looking torn. He knew that Cedrick wouldn't just back away from a fight _he_ started. The problem was Optimus himself. The principle didn't know the man, therefore didn't know what his reaction to the kick-boxer's aggressiveness would be.

Maybe his calm, baritone voice _did_ convince the hothead of a man, to talk the matter through like normal parents concerned for their children?

Perhaps Orion Parkinson possessed such a power of negotiation? Maybe, maybe not. He didn't know, but he was glad he wasn't calling for an ambulance for at least _this_ parents meeting.

"Well, since the matter was decided." The chubby man said from behind his desk, attracting all the attention to himself. "I end this meeting with giving both boys a week of detention."

Both sides nodded their agreement with the exception of young Farrell, who was protesting rather loudly. All it took was for Optimus to send a suggestive glance towards the brat's father, for Cedrick to shut the boy up.

When Optimus, June and Jack finally reached their car, the autobot leader began wondering if he did the right decision on letting the other man keep his pride. There was nothing stopping him, from returning and trying to offline him again, be it by the command of his master Joe Darby or individually, with the help of his sniper friend. And the kick-boxer knew where the Darby family lives. What he did back in the office could seriously endanger the lone mother and her child, he grew so close to.

Even more so than it already is, having their relationship with the Autobots.

As if on que, the only female in the car looked at him with suspicious eyes.

"You lied back there didn't you, Prime?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." He answered, hoping his voice didn't give him out.

June rolled her eyes. "Come on, Optimus. You're a guy who's been honest all his life, it's easy to tell when you're trying your hardest to tell a believable lie."

The Prime didn't answer, to ashamed for being discovered so quickly.

"Now that that's over." Jack joined the conversation from his spot in the back seat. "Can somebody tell me what the hell happened to Optimus and why he's suddenly my 'foster father'?!"

JA107: Hi guys! I'm baaaaack! Sorry I'm late, I had…stuff to take care of. Anyway I'm back and not going ANYWHERE anytime soon! J And, if you're curious to the riddle I presented last chapter, I can say that you got it _half_ right. Meaning, you got the character correctly but missed totally when it came to the series the scene was taken from. Yes it was batman, but the moment Optimus is recreating didn't come from his animated series, only from the crossover episode "Justice League" had with "Batman Forever". Anyway, thanks for guessing! And stay tuned for more of "Human" coming up soon!

See ya!


	12. Chapter 12

"Human."

Chapter 12

"No."

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Was the first thing that escaped Jack's lips after his mother and Optimus, explained everything to him.

June stared at him wide-eyed while the humanized autobot simply sighted, as if he knew since the very start that this will be the teen's answer.

"B-But, Jack-" The female human started but was cut off by her son.

"He can't stay as a human, mom!" The teen yelled. "No matter what happens to us, we need to get him back into his robot form and fast!"

"Jack don't you get that if he changes back before the trial, you and I will be-" June almost chocked on her words, tears falling down her face.

"It doesn't matter and you know why? Because the minute Megatron realizes that his biggest adversary is now a defenseless human, I guarantee you, he's going to take over our _planet_! Whenever the other Autobots are around or not!"

"Jack-"

"Don't _you_ get that he's the only thing keeping the decepticon leader, from taking over Earth?! Without him, it's as if we already lost!" Jack screamed, waving his hands up and down. "None of the other Autobots can take him one-on-one, _Hell_ they can't even do that _together_! We _need_ him there, mom!"

"What about _us_ , Jack?!" June countered. "All you ever think about is the Autobots! What about me?! I need _you_ here with me, Jack!" The woman sobbed. "I can't just let you sacrifice your family, for a war that isn't even your own!"

"I think about the Autobots because they lost more than you can ever _imagine_ , just to keep Megatron from taking over our planet!" Jack yelled back. He then pointed at the humanized autobot leader who was watching the fight between mother and son, silently. "Optimus sacrificed _Cybertron_! His _home planet,_ the very place he fought so- _damn_ -long to _save_ , accepted the fact that he might be viewed as a _traitor_ by the people that elected him as leader for choosing Earth over Cybertron, knowing that even if his planet, by some miracle, was restored he'd be sentenced to _exile_ for forsaking their planet in favor of one that isn't even in the same _constellation!_ " The boy was practically screaming right now. "And do you know _why_ he did that?! _Why_ he sacrificed everything he held dear for us, a species he could squish like a bug if he wanted to? Because he doesn't want _anybody_ , big or small, enemy or ally, to face all the pain and loss _he_ and the rest of the Autobots had to go through, _ever_!" The teen then looked up into his mother's eyes, his own blazing with determinated fire.

"If Optimus could sacrifice _so much_ of his personal happiness just to save Earth from the evil clutches of Lord Megatron, I think I can withstand a year in the hands of my father just to even the score."

Giving his mother and the humanized autobot a last glance, before departing for his room.

June just watched the young man walk to his room, eyes blank and emotionless.

It was over.

Jack won't cooperate with their plan.

The battle was lost.

In a few months the authorities will come and escort her son to a man that didn't even love him.

It was no use going after him to try and talk him out of it, once Jack makes his mind about something not even Prime's commanding voice could talk him out of it.

But it looked like the humanized autobot was going to try anyway, she watched him take one step after another towards the top floor.

Once he was in the middle of the stairs, he looked down at her and graced her with a gentle jet determinated smile that promised to fix everything that went wrong in her life.

And, if she knew _anything_ about the great Optimus Prime, it was that he _always_ kept his promises. Even if it _killed_ him.

With that though she could see a tiny flicker of light, in the otherwise dark scenario of her life.

JA107: Hi guys! Sorry this one is so short but I promise the next one is going to be _longer_ and have an alone scene for Prime and Jack. I won't spoil too much but let's just say Optimus knows _exactly_ where Jack's coming from, in this situation. Could it be that he went through something _similar_ when, he was but a young teen? Who knows?! I do! And you'll do to, just keep on reading and reviewing (Can we hit a 90 or a 100 on the reviews for this chapter, fellas?! It would be so _awesome_ it we did! ;-) I promise to think of a sequel if we do XP)

PS: More reviews = longer chapters. Just wanted to point that out.


	13. Chapter 13

"Human."

Chapter 13

"A story that happened twice."

Optimus slowly knocked his knuckles against the wooden door, with the words: 'Jack' imprinted on them and waited for his permission to enter.

He knew he had to fix the conflict that raised between mother and son, being the main reason of its existing in the first place, and hoped that his skills as a negotiator will be enough to convince the stubborn child to reconsider his earlier choice.

A few minutes of silence passed and the humanized autobot still didn't move to open the door.

Despite his determination to make thing right, something kept stopping him. A sharp spike of dread erupting in his chest, whenever he reached out a hand towards the doorknob.

Something was trying to tell him that, whatever happens behind that door, it was going to _hurt_.

Ignoring his rising heartbeat, Optimus placed a slightly shaking hand on the golden knob and twisted it.

Entering the small room before the growing sense of danger had a chance to stop him, the humanized autobot took in the new surroundings.

The walls were in the color of light-blue and half covered in posters that showed various models of motorbikes, Jack was sitting by his dark-brown desk with his knees pressed to his chest, facing away from him. There was also a neatly made bed in the other side of the room with dark-blue covers and a few white pillows, the wooden floor was covered by a nice red carpet and the boy also had two windows: one in front of his desk to provide natural light and the other above his bed so he can gaze up at the stars, before falling asleep.

Since his human ally made no sign in acknowledging his presence, Optimus sighted and made his way to the youth's bed.

Setting himself on the edge of the mattress he leaned over, placed his elbows on his knees in a position that foresaw a difficult talk, that was about to go between both humans.

After a few more minutes of nothing but the quiet intakes of air echoing from the walls, Prime decided it was time to break the silence.

"Jack-" He didn't get to finish.

"You don't have to finish, Optimus." The boy cut him off. "I know what you're going to say and the answer is 'no'. I'm not reconsidering my decision."

"May I ask, why?"

"Because it's not fair that you guys are the only ones allowed to make sacrifices!" The familiarity of those words made the leader's heart ache and a memory long forgotten, to resurface. "I'm just as much a member of team Prime as any of you bots! If I _want_ to sacrifice something to ensure the survival of my planet, then _let_ me!" Optimus swallowed the lump in his throat and had to suppress a flinch from shaking his body. "Despite what mom might think of me, I'm not a baby anymore, Optimus! I think I already showed you, that I'm old enough to share the burden you, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Arcee and Ratchet carry every day, so stop trying to shield me from it as if I was some kind of defenseless sparkling!"

This time a flinch did shake the elder man's frame.

Painful memories of the one terrible crime he never got to punished for, bombarded his tormented mind. Awakened by the same words that made everything go so very wrong, all those years ago…

 _The painfully tight squeeze on his arm-blaster…_

 _The deafening screams of his fellow comrades as his arm was slowly being pointed towards them…_

 _The inevitable sound of a gun being shot…_

 _The sticky feeling of energion hitting his face-_

"Optimus?" The worried tone in Jack's voice made the autobot leader snap out of the memories that threated to consume him. "A-Are you okay? You look kinda pail…"

Rubbing his eyes, he shook the teen's concern away. "I am fine, Jackson." He whispered, not trusting his voice enough to make it any louder. "It just seems that…my past decided to remind itself to me."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Your past? Why?"

"Your words…" The autobot leader stated. "I…heard them before."

"Really?" The boy twisted his rotation chair so that he faces his guest. "When?"

"A long time ago, from a…young bot, during the Golden Age of Cybertron."

"Would you mind telling me about it?" Jack asked making himself comfortable on his chair. He was genially curious and it wasn't every day that he could find out about the past life of the most secretive bot in the Autobots. "If…it's not to personal."

Optimus shook his head. This memory, however painful it may be, might be just the thing to convince the young human before him to change his decision about Ms. Darby's plan.

Besides, this story has been hidden long enough. It's about time somebody learns he's not a god that never makes mistakes.

"The bot was about 1700 years of age, barely old enough to join the Elite Guards." Optimus's voice was calm and collected despite the growing pain and guilt in his guts. "It happened during the boy's first mission off planet. It was supposed to be a simple checkup mission but they ran into a group of rouges on their way back." Almost chocking because of the growing lump in his throat, the humanized autobot continued. "Even though they were greatly outnumbered, the pluton refused to give themselves up. They fought bravely, until…" Swallowing hard, Prime suppressed a shiver. "The youngest was caught."

 _"Let me go!" A voice of a youngling, barely old enough to be considered a man, yelled though the blaster shots._

 _"Orion! No!" An older voice screamed panicked, soon joined by many others._

"The leader of the Elite Guard ordered his men to halt their fire, afraid one of their shots might injure the young cadet." The elder human's voice sounded lost in thought, as he spoke of the incident as if it happened just yesterday. "The pirates wanted a way to make a safe escape so having the young bot in their grasp, was working to their favor quite nicely. But the boy's pluton was worried what will happen to him once his usage was over, so some of the men even offered to gives themselves in exchange for the child…"

 _"Let the boy go! He's just a kid, he's of no use to you!" A strong, authoritive voice spoke. "Take one of us instead!"_

"But the cadet would not allow anyone to take his place…"

 _"Very well, commander Flamethrower." The voice behind him said, a smile clearly placed on his face. "I'll let the boy go if…you surrender yourself to me, instead."_

 _"No! Commander, I can't let you do that!" The childish voice screamed, trying to struggle out of the other man's grip_

 _"It's okay, Orion." The strong voice said slowly, trying to calm the boy down. "I'm getting you out of this situation, I promise. Everything will be okay."_

 _"No! I won't let you get offlined for me! It was my own fault that I got myself captured in the first place! Stop playing 'sacrifice goat' for me, Commander!"_

 _"Orion, listen-"_

"He yelled out the same words you did…"

 _"No!_ You _listen!" The boy screamed._ " _I'm just as much a member of this team as any of you bots! If I_ want _to sacrifice something to ensure the survival of my pluton, then let me! It's not fair that, just because I'm younger, only you guys are allowed to make sacrifices!" The boy screamed, desperate to be heard. "Despite what you and the rest might think of me, I am_ not _a sparkling! I think I've already proven to you, that I'm old enough to share the burden you, Blueracer, Scratcher, Roundup and Greenscreen carry every day, so stop trying to shield me from it as if I was some kind of defenseless child!_ "

"Along with a few more…"

 _The boy then tuned to the one holding him captive. "You already have your boarding card to freedom, let the others go. Commander Flamethrower and his men won't follow you."_

"And that's when everything went to Pit."

 _A large sense of dread erupted in the boy's stomach as he watched the pirate smile._

 _"Let's make sure they don't, shall we?" The child then felt his arm-blaster being activated thanks to a special button on his elbow._

 _"No, wait! What are you doing?!"_

 _"Just making sure you keep, your word." The boy felt helpless as his arm fell numb under the pirate's influence._

 _"I won't let you hurt them!"_

 _"Who said anything about_ me _hurting them?" The rouge laughed. "My dear child, if anyone will be injuring them…" He then leaned near the boy's audio receptors and whispered: "It will be_ you _."_

"The boy was forced to watch his team being offlined by his own gun." Optimus took in a shaky breath. "The crew members all wasted their last breaths to make sure the child knew that none of that was his fault, that they don't blame him for committing _murder_ on his own team." The autobot then lowered his head. "Alpha Trion and a search party found the boy a few days later, hugging the dead body of his captain, covered in energion and crying hysterically. Begging for them to come back and for Primus to take him, instead." Optimus let out a shaky breath. "After a month of rehabilitation the boy left the Elite Guard for good. Convinced that he never wants to fight again."

Silence fell.

"Unfortunately…his wish to stop fighting all together, was never granted."

"Who" Jack asked, his voice chocked in horror. "Who was that bot?"

Optimus sighted and then looked the young man in the eye.

"His name was Orion…Orion Pax." The leader could hear the sharp intake of breath from the boy's seat and began rising to his feet.

"I won't ask you to reconsider your choice, Jack." He spoke slowly as he approached the door. "I am only asking for you to think this through, before you make the same mistake I did."

With one last glance, the proud leader opened the door and left the teen alone to his thoughts.

JA107: God I hope this makes sense. ^^'


	14. Chapter 14

"Human."

Chapter 14

"Not so perfect."

 _Optimus didn't know where he was going, all he knew was that he had to get away from that room._

 _He knew he was acting cowardly, he knew he was running away…_

 _But Optimus wasn't really Optimus, anymore._

 _He was a young cadet that just saw his pluton get murdered before his very eyes…_

 _By his own arm blaster._

 _A young boy that just had his childhood dream of becoming Cybertron's greatest warrior, be torn away from him by a traumatic accident in the field._

 _The equivalent of a seventeen-year-old human that faced more blood and death than most of the oldest generals in Cybertron's army, during the Golden Age._

 _Absentmindedly he continued walking, the area around him becoming blurry and unrecognizable…_

 _He thought he long forgave himself for the mistake he made so long ago, that he moved on…let that part of his life behind._

 _But as life would have it…the past has a way of revealing its ugly head when you least expect it._

 _It turns out he simply had to many things on his mind, to many distractions, to many consequences of making a mistake, to many innocent lives at stake…for the memory to resurface. The Autobot leader simply forgot about the accident, the war taking too much of his attention, he didn't have time to think about the time he wasn't perfect._

 _But now…with nothing there to distract him, the old wound reopened and bleeding…_

 _He has no choice but to give in to the pain._

 _Optimus, no…Orion Pax, still didn't forgive himself after all those years._

 _He promised himself he will never fight with the laser cannons again, never take another life. Even if that meant dyeing himself._

 _And here he was, leading one army against another in a seemingly never-ending war for a planet already dead. A war that would have never begun, if he simply kept his mouth shut in front of the council that one day._

 _Perhaps then Primus would have given the Matrix to the true Prime, instead of giving the mantle to a data clerk, so that he would be able to fix the mess he created._

 _Because that's what Orion Pax, AKA Optimus Prime, was._

 _A foolish data clerk who made a mess._

 _And, instead of fixing it the minute he was granted the power to do so, continues making it worse._

Something small and warm slammed into him but that didn't stop him, from continuing his journey.

 _Ratchet was right._

 _He is such a fool._

Slim hands wrap themselves around his waist and his legs skid to a halt.

 _Megatron was never the true villain._

He heard a voice. A female one. Somebody was talking to him.

 _It was him. It was always him._

"Optimus? How did it go? Did Jack reconsider?" He wasn't listening.

 _Because by spareing his arch nemesis so many times, instead of killing him when he had the chance…_

"Optimus? Optimus are you okay?"

 _He willingly allowed more people to die, more blood to be shed._

"Optimus you're beginning to scare me, please say something!" The hands around him tighten, the voice sounds pleading. He dosen't look down.

 _So many people died paying for my mistake…_

"Optimus, say something!" He can feel fists hit his chest, but dosen't react.

 _How much longer will I allow this to continue?_

"Speak, damn it!"

 _Is there a way to end this without one of us having to die?_

"Optimus!"

 _Just a few hours ago I was so sure that there is_ always _another way…_

"Snap out of it!"

 _Again, I was a fool._

"Answer me, damn it!" He could feel somebody shaking him, but was too far gone in his thoughts to react.

 _There is no other way…not this time._

"Fine! Have it your way! I hate to have to do this to you, Prime but you leave me no choice!" Before he could react, something hard hit him in the stomach.

June Darby gave a sigh of relief when she watched the seemingly dead eyes, sparkle to life as the taller human grunted in pain hugging his belly. The mask he schooled his face into, disappearing.

"There," She smiled when he looked up at her, shock and confusion glowing in his inhuman, blue eyes. "Do I have your attention, now?"

Still breathing heavily, which made the woman regret hitting him so hard, he straightened to his full height. The mask was back on.

"Yes, Miss Darby." The Autobot leader spoke in an apologetic tone. "I sincerely apologize for my lack of attention. I was…" He paused and looked away. "Lost in thought."

She waved his apology away, glad he was back with the living again and not lost in some sort of trance.

"Its okay, Optimus I understand. You have a lot to think about at the moment. You just scared me with your unresponsiveness, that's all."

He nodded hesitantly, clearly thinking he should say more but not sure what.

"Anyway, how did the conversation with Jack, go?" June asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"The conversation went…well. I am sure Jackson will reconsider his choice of action."

Another, deeper sight of relief. "Oh thank God." She then hugged the humanized Autobot jet again. "Thank you for talking to him, Optimus. I don't know what would happen to us if you didn't."

He smiled sadly and gently hugged her back. "It was my duty to ensure that the same mistake does not happen twice." He whispered.

June tensed.

"Is that what you were thinking so hard about?" She looked up at him. "The first time something like this happened?"

"…" The Prime didn't say anything for a couple of minutes. "Yes." The man admitted softy. "That one and many that were to follow."

June's eyes widened. "You're…oh God. You're not blaming yourself, are you? For the war I mean."

Silence answered.

"There is no one else to blame, Miss Darby."

The punch to the stomach was something he never saw coming.

JA107: Ooooh~ looks like June is about to knock some sense into self-hating, Optimus who is blaming himself for all the bad things that happened. XP.

Poor Prime XD Always has to be the hero. (Or the scapegoat XP)

No worries my fans! ;-) Op isn't going to stay that way for long! (June will make sure of that XP) And, surprise! The Autobots will be here next chapter! Hurray! ^^

Anyway, who should come and pick them up? Bee? Arcee? Bulk? Or maybe Ratchet?

How about you guys give your suggestions in the reviews and I'll make the one that appears the most, happen in my next chapter? ;-)

Anyway, happy girls day to all the fellow girls!

JA107 over and out!


	15. Chapter 15

"Human."

Chapter 15

"So close..."

As the humanized robot bucked from the second hit, June took the chance to grab him by his head and pull him to her eye level.

"Listen to me you stubborn idiot." She said, eyes glowing dangerously. "None of this is your fault, understand? You can't always blame yourself for other people's mistakes, Optimus. _Especially_ when there was nothing you could do, to prevent it."

He looked down at her words.

"But I _could have_ prevented it." The Autobot whispered. "If killing Megatron was the first thing I did after receiving the Matrix, the war wouldn't have crossed the Cybertron borders, let alone reach Earth." His shoulders slumped and he looked defeated. "So many lives would have been spared if I just did what I was supposed to do, instead of letting my blind hope for Megatron's change cloud my judgement."

"That may be true." June admitted quietly. "But if you did kill Megatron all those years ago, you wouldn't be the wonderful leader you are today." She smiled at him when he looked into her eyes. "By sparing his life you showed that metal tyrant, that you are _better_ than him. Following the ways of compassion and love-for-life, instead of death and destruction." June sighted as he looked down again, unable to accept the complement. "Optimus you did so many great things that no one else would be capable of, sacrificed more than anyone else I know, won the hearts of _countless_ loyal followers that believe in you with all their hearts and sparks, and yet…you don't believe in yourself at all." She moved his head so that he looked her in the eyes. "Why is that, Optimus? Why don't you trust yourself?"

"Because it cost me more than I could pay." He whispered, remembering all the times he placed too much faith in his ideas, only to have them backfire in his face, taking away many loyal soldiers and adding more of both blood and energion, to cover his hands. The incident where he allowed Raph to get hurt was still fresh in his mind. "I am not going to make the same mistake happen again."

She shook her head sadly. "Oh, Optimus when will you learn? Everybody makes mistakes, and there hasn't been a war that ended with absolutely no casualties. That's just how life is, Prime. You can't expect to be perfect because you _will_ fail at some point, I can promise you that. Be it in the battle field or in any other situation, it can't be avoided so don't be afraid of your failures. The whole point is to _learn_ from them and do your best to try and never make them again."

"But I'm not supposed to fail." He continued whispering softly. "My status as leader and Prime, don't allow it." He looked into her eyes then. "It was in my code, ever since I got the mantle of the Matrix, that I am not to show weakness, my mistakes are to be nonexistent and failure is not an option." He paused. "But it seems like I've been going against my coding since the war started. What kind of leader goes against everything he was programed to do?"

"Optimus you forget a very important detail." June said smiling. "You are no longer a robot, Prime and, guessing from what you just told me, you never really were one to begin with." She giggled at the raised eyebrow he rewarded her with. "Why so surprised, Optimus? It was obvious from the start." The nurse didn't know it was possible but his brown eyebrow flew even higher. "You told me that you received the Matrix in order to be strong enough to kill Megatron and end the war. Any other robot would do just that and be over with it because they were programed to do so, but not you. You deceived the direct propose of naming you 'Prime' and listened to your spark. You let him live because he was once your friend, a brother in arms. And continue to do so even to this day because you believe that, beneath all that evil looks and bad intentions, the person you once knew, still lives."

"But he doesn't." The humanized autobot looked down again. "Our fight beneath the raging volcano, told me as much."

"You don't believe that statement, Prime. We both know it."

"If I didn't, I wouldn't fight him that day." He challenged.

"Maybe. But when you fought him again, during Jack's mission to regain your lost memories, you didn't kill him when you had the chance, didn't you?"

Optimus had nothing to say to this. He knew she was right.

Even back then, during the fight, he wasn't completely sure he could do what needed to be done, and had actually been grateful when Megatron managed to grab his sword in midair.

So he kept quiet, lost in thought.

June sighted at his silence.

"That's what I thought." She then pressed her forehead to his. "Optimus you are the kindest, most caring, compassionate living being, I ever had the pleasure of meeting. You put the need of others before your own, have enough strength and bravery to lead a tiny group of followers against impossible odds and still be able to come on top, you spent most of your life fighting a war that could make others emotionless, cold wrecks after just a few weeks, and still managed to remain positive, hopeful and kind self." She looked deep into his wide eyes. "How can you believe, you started something as cruel as war?"

The Autobot leader didn't answer, lost in her dark-blue eyes. He felt trapped in them, fascinated by how different they were from all the optics he encountered throughout his life. So bright and soft, looking at him lovingly… There was just something about them that made him wish he could stare at them forever, even when the more logical part of his brain was trying to tell him _exactly_ why this will never happen.

He felt some strange magnetism pulling him towards her and was surprised his body gave in to it so quickly, despite the warning his brain was shouting at him.

June on the other hand, was mesmerized on how both human and inhuman the Autobot's irises were. They were soft, caring and gentle as a humans should be, on contrast to what he _really_ was, but their color was so deeply sky-blue that, if she didn't know any better, she'd think he was wearing contact lenses. She suddenly wanted to lean over and look into them deeper, discover what the term 'the eyes are windows to the soul' promised, his soul.

They both didn't realize that they were, slowly, getting closer and closer to each other.

And, just as their lips were about to meet…

"MOM! OPTIMUS!" Jack appeared in the doorway and the couple immediately moved away from each other, blushing furiously. "Arcee just called. She's going to be here any minute no-are you two okay?" He asked, black eyebrow raised.

"Yes, of course Jackson." The autobot said after awkwardly clearing his throat, his other hand rubbing the back of his neck. His cheeks redder than tomatoes in the supermarket.

"Why would we not be okay?" His mother added, her right hand rubbing her left shoulder and cheeks equally as colorful as the leader's.

The teen blinked a couple of times, trying to take in the new information, before shaking his head. "Anyway, Cee is going to get here any minute now so we better prepare for her arrival." He said gesturing to Prime.

"Understood." The autobot in question nodded and walked out the room he and June ended up in, during his quest to get away from memories, to prepare himself mentally to face the bewildered, shocked and lost looks on his team's faces, once they discover he may no longer be of any use to them in battle.

After watching him leave, Jack turned his attention to his parent. Eyes questioning.

June coughed, trying to gain control over her blushing face.

"Right…uh…I'll…um…oh! Look at the time! It's almost dinner! I better pack some sandwiches for the ride. You never know how long we'll be at the base, and Miko and Raph are probably hungry by now." With that said, the nurse followed Prime out the door, disappearing from her son's sight.

Jack blinked a few times, then shook his head smiling.

He wondered how Miko and Raph will react, when he tells them about the unmistakable feeling growing between Optimus Prime and his mother.

JA107: Hope you like it ^^ Happy Easter, everyone!


	16. Chapter 16

"Human."

Chapter 16

"Facing the harsh reality."

Arcee was a skilled military robot, trained to face stressful situations in battle with a calm demure and collective thinking.

She could handle sending soldiers to die for the greater good, on the war zone.

She could deal with killing Decepticons, who were just corrupted Autobots or simple bots deceived by Megatron's fairytales of a Promised Land.

She could even take the life of a dear friend, if the injury he/she sustained, was too lethal to heal.

But she _couldn't_ put her partner, Jack in danger.

And now, with their leader missing and the remaining Autobots in a panic, that's _exactly_ what she's doing.

She was determinated to take both Jack and his mother to the safety of their Headquarters, where they will stay until Arcee deems it safe.

Preferably, when Optimus will stop playing 'hide-and-seek' and come back to the base.

The only female Autobot sighted at her own silly thoughts as she turned sharply to the left, on the well-known-to-her road.

She knows Prime wouldn't just hide away after a battle with Megatron, expecting them to find him on their own. And she was disrespectful to her leader by even _thinking_ he'd do such a thing simply because the burden he carries, is getting harder and harder to bear.

Hiding from problems is not something that curses through Optimus's energion, the way of the Primes is to face your problems. So he wouldn't be able to do it, even if he tried.

Gently slowing down at the traffic lights, the small motorcycle watched the humans interact with each other on the sidewalk. With nothing else bothering her until the lights changed, this was all the Autobot could do for now.

There was a mother trying to pull a young son towards the nearby preschool, with the child protesting rather loudly with his mouth, arms and legs.

Next to the poor woman walked a man in a black coat and a red hat, seemingly to engulfed in the paper he was reading to notice the screaming boy.

Arcee guessed the male wasn't the child's father since, if he was, he wouldn't act the way he did towards the boy.

Noticing the light change, the only female autobot speed up wanting to get to her desired destination. Those pesky Decepticons might be getting ready to strike, using the fact that Optimus disappeared after his battle with the Con leader.

And, even though she can take most of those losers on her own once they realized Prime is missing, they might be bold enough to attack the city. And none of the Autobots are ready for such a chaotic invasion, without the guidance of their leader.

They would surely fall, were such a situation to occur.

The larger number of cons would overpower them if they attacked together, Megatron would use them as examples of what happens to those to oppose him and their human companions would either be killed or used as slaves for Starscream and Dreadwing.

A vision of the terrible future made the femme's frame shiver, filling her processor with fear.

The fact that the evil transformers weren't causing any destruction, nor were seen during any of Bulkheads and Bumblebees patrols ever since the battle, didn't ease the growing anxiety in the Autobots sparks.

Finally reaching the small, white house of the Darby family, she sighted in relief and honked her horn urgently for Jack to know she's here.

After five minutes the large garage door rolled up, revealing her human partner waving at her to enter the home.

She honked a greeting and slowly drove inside, making her hologram disappear halfway there.

"Hi, Cee." The sixteen-year-old greeted her, as she transformed to her true form. "Glad you could make it. I need to tell you something-"

"Jack gather your mom!" The autobot said urgently, cutting him off rudely. "I'm taking you to the HQ, it's too dangerous for you two to stay here. The cons might come any moment and-"

"Woah, woah, woah." The boy blinked and began to motion for the autobot to calm down, with his hands. "Slow down, Cee. Take a deep breath and stop being so paranoid for no reason, you know better than that." Jack scolded his mechanic partner, gently. "You _know_ Ratchet made sure the cons don't find out where we live, thanks to his special cloaking devises places on our location." The teen reminded her. "And since me, mom, Miko and Raf are careful to not blow our covers with stupid mistakes, there is _no way_ any con can even _stumble_ upon my house."

Arcee opened her mouth to something, but couldn't find anything to counter the teenager's reasons.

"I'm sorry, partner." She said with a sight. "It's just…Optimus is missing and you remember what happened the last time, he wasn't with us." Arcee told the boy before her. "This time Prime isn't going to miraculously appear in the right moment and time, to help us save the day. We don't even know where he _is,_ this time!"

To her shock and confusion, Jack coughed awkwardly.

"That's…not exactly true, Cee." He said rubbing his neck with his right hand.

"What do you mean?" Her eyes widened then in realization. "You _found_ him?!" When the black haired teen nodded confirming what she said, the Autobot let out a short sight of relief. "Thank Primus for that. Is he okay? Where did you find him? Did the decepticon bastard hurt him much? How did you find him before we did? Is he awake? Does he remember what happened? Can I talk to him? Do I need to call Ratchet for back-up?"

Again the human had to use his hands to command her, to stop the unending flow of words.

"First of all: Calm down, Prime is fine. There was no lasting damage on his body, when mom found him outside our doorstep. And yes, he's fully conscious and you'll be able to talk to him shortly but…" He trailed of biting his lower lip.

"What? What is it?" Arcee asked, desperately wanting to know what was wrong with her friend and leader.

"I…don't think you're mentally prepared for that yet, maybe you should wait a while before seeing him?"

The autobot gave him a pointed look.

"Jack, I've seen friends and comrades having their sparks ripped out of their chest plates, before my very eyes." She said seriously. "I don't think there is anything more disturbing than that, especially if it's an injury."

"If you say so, Cee." Jack sighted and motioned for someone to come out from behind the door.

A tall dark-haired human with piercing blue eyes and a small beard, stepped up before her.

At first they just looked at each other awkwardly before Arcee broke the eye contact, and turned to her partner.

"Is…this your friend, Jack?" She asked pointing at the silent human.

"No, Cee." The boy shook his head. "Like I said, what happened to Prime is not an injury."

Visibly paling on her face-pates, the femme turned her attention back to the new human.

He coughed and rubbed the back of his neck before speaking in that all-to-familiar voice:

"Hello, Arcee."

And with those two words, Arcee's system got stasis locked with her face in the classic 'WTF?!' look.


	17. Chapter 17

"Human."

Chapter 17

"Ratchet to the rescue."

Ratchet sighted deeply and rubbed his sore head with his hand. The wiring inside it was getting tangled again, giving the medic-bot the closest thing a robot can have to, what humans call, a headache.

He had a lot on his head with Optimus who went missing without a trail and the Decepticons being strangely un-active. Especially given the fact that the biggest roadblock to Earth domination, was removed from their way. Which appeared to be happening more often, much to Ratchet's concern.

One would expect they would _carve_ for an opportunity like this one but, for whatever reason, they surprisingly do next to nothing to take advantage of the situation.

And that made the medic-bot all the more worried.

Knowing Megatron they probably have something big coming their way. Large enough in scale for them not to be unable to handle it, without their leader.

The robot grunted as the headache intensified. He was getting migraine from trying to figure those maniacs out, wonderful.

"Miko I don't think playing one of your favorite guitar solos, is going to help bring Optimus back." The concerned voice of Raf, hit Ratchet's audio receptors.

Ah, yes. The children.

Miko and young Raphael offered to help with the search as well as offer words of encouragement and comfort, to the Autobots. Jack was being picked up by Arcee, so he should be joining them shortly.

The words spoken by the younger human almost made the proud medic-bot, whimper.

It's not that he doesn't enjoy music, because he _does._ Just...not the type Miko likes to play on her machine of ear-bleeding.

He likes classical music, a common trait he shares with his leader, with his favorite being performed on pianos. The calm and gentle tones usually did a _wonderful_ job, preventing him from throwing a wrench at someone.

Usually…

While he basked in the beautiful music of pianos, Optimus preferred to listen to the work of orchestras and choirs.

The big red-blue robot could often be spotted humming his favorite pieces, doing reports and overlooking battle strategies.

Though Ratchet himself prefers the works of Mozart, Bach and Beethoven, the Autobot leader didn't mind if the music he listened to was made by current artists, such as his favorites: Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams and Howard Shore, whose work could all be found in blockbuster hits like "Gladiator", "The dark knight rises", "Chronicles of Narnia", "Prince of Egypt" and "Lord of the rings". Movies the children made them all watch a week ago.

Out of all these movies, Ratchet realized that the one very closely resembles their situation, in some respects, was the "Prince of Egypt".

Megatron and Optimus were like Moses and Ramses, two brothers separated and placed against each other by different ideals and destines.

Like Moses, Prime never wanted to fight his brother in arms and often wished Primus chose somebody else to lead the Autobots against the Decepticons.

Megatron, like Ramses, is stubborn and bent on taking over the world but deep, deep inside he also never wanted to fight Optimus. The first few fights of the war he actually spent trying to convince Prime to join him, it wasn't until the next battles that he gave up trying to win Optimus over. Finally accepting the fact that his baby brother Orion, was permanently replaced by the unyielding, Optimus Prime.

Most people might think that they fight each other to kill, but Ratchet knew better.

Only few could see past the act and see that, in most part, they were both greatly holding back. The only moment they truly wanted to destroy one another, was during the fight beneath the volcano.

After the incident with Orion, old memories resurfaced, they went back to pulling back their punches and hitting everything but the opposing bot.

"Oh c'mon Raf." Miko's high-pitched whine pulled the old medic out of thought. "I'm sure doc bot would love to hear my newest hit!" The Japanese girl said, jumping up and down with her electric guitar in hand. "And, who knows, maybe Boss Bot will hear me play and come rushing in to listen to the awesomeness of my guitar!"

Ratchet let out a small chuckle, gaining the children's attention.

"If he _did_ hear the song, he'd probably run the other way." He commented, activating a ground bridge to return Bumblebee and Bulkhead to base.

"Heeey!" The female human whined, offended. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?!"

"Only the fact that our dear leader, doesn't have a particular liking to what you call 'music', Miko." The medic bot answered, not gracing the human with looking her in the face.

"Are you talking about Boss Bot or you, Ratch?" The teen asked sarcastically. "Because I don't recall him saying _anything_ about _not_ liking my music."

"Optimus wouldn't do that to you." Ratchet said while checking the two scouts for any injuries. "He's way to considerate about your feelings, to say what he really thought about that screechy mess, you call 'music'." Seeing that the feisty girl was about to respond, the medic quickly turned his attention to the two robots that just returned from a mission.

"Any luck?" He asked looking first at Bumblebee and then at Bulkhead.

"I'm sorry, Ratch." The bulky robot said, his head down. "But the trail went cold outside the city, where Prime and Megatron were seen blowing each other up."

Bumblebee beeped something that sounded like he wanted to add something to Bulkhead's report.

"I see." The medic bot frowned, offering no explanation to Miko who was the only one not understanding the language of the young scout.

"Bee said that, even though there must have been a crater where Optimus landed, they couldn't find anything like that near that side of the city." Raf supplied, seeing the confused look on the older teen's face.

"Oh." The girl replied. "Then why not check the other side of the city, if you can't find it there?"

Again Bumblebee provided an explanation.

"Because if we do that, we'd point the attention of the Decepticons towards that side of town, and that's where Jack and his mother lives." Raf again functioned as a translator for Miko.

"Oh." The loud teen was about to say something else, when the comlink went beeping and Jack's picture showed up on screen.

"What is it, Jack?" Ratchet asked pressing the 'answer' button. "Is it the Decepticons? Are they near your position?"

"Hi Ratchet and, no it's not the Decepticons." The boy explained. "Actually its Arcee. She's-"

"Hurt? Injured? Unconscious?" The medic raced the questions out, cutting the boy off mid-sentence.

"What? No, no. She's just…stasis locked."

"What?" Ratchet echoed the question. "Impossible. How could she possibly be-"

"Can you come over to my place, Ratchet?" Jack cut him off. "Just you. Please?"

The medic sighted.

Why is he the only one cleaning up after these kids?

"Alright. I'll be there shortly."


	18. Chapter 18

"Human."

Chapter 18

"The one time Optimus Prime faltered."

The way towards the Darby residence didn't take Ratchet nearly as long as it took Arcee, thanks to the use of the light signal on top of his vehicle mode. On his back seats he carried all the necessary tools needed to free an autobot from the 'not-so-common', stasis lock.

Still thinking about all the possible reasons the little femme could've gotten herself in stasis lock, the doctor beeped for Jack to open his garage door, so that he can drive in.

After a few minutes of calculating every possibility/probability of the smallest Autobot getting Stasis Locked, the medic concluded that, in order for it to happen, Megatron would have to dress up as a young female to-be ruler, the humans call 'princess', complete with a pink dress, yellow wig, cherry lipstick and a blood red bow, inviting Prime for a nice cup of tea.

Only that amount of nonsense, shock and bewilderment could make such an experienced field commander, freeze in utter horror.

That little exercise also showed him that he was spending _way_ too much time with the children. He didn't use to have such a wild imagination before he met Optimus (the self-made image of the decepticon leader her created, actually made him shiver a bit. Especially the tea part.) and that that time could be used more productively, like in upgrading the spacebridge or having Bulkhead re-model the insides of the base.

Before Ratchet could think about it a bit more the garage door opened, revealing a reviled-looking Jackson Darby.

"Thank Primus you're here so quickly." The boy said, motioning for him to drive in before anyone gets curious as to why an ambulance car would arrive and not take anyone back to the hospital, per usual. "I don't think I could stand seeing her so… _still_ for much longer." He added, closing the large door behind the medic bot. "And it can't be comfortable, being stuck in one position like that till somebody comes and makes things work again…can it?" Jack asked while Ratchet transformed in the middle of the much-to-roomy garage.

The vehicle room has been specially modified so that it had enough space to welcome all the Autobots in vehicle mode, should they need to seek cover on missions or simply want to visit the human world in the break time between battles and scavenger hunts.

June also made sure that the ceiling was high enough for most of the robots, to comfortably transform and move around in their normal mode. Optimus got the short end of the stick, since he's the tallest of team Prime and, unfortunately, the Darby's budget wasn't big enough to cover his height.

That _would_ pose a problem for the stoic leader, even if he himself would never admit it, if he wasn't stuck in a body that was much smaller than the size he was used to.

And even if they _did_ have the money to make the ceiling high enough for Prime to stretch, Jack wondered how on _earth_ they would explain to the builders, just _why_ they needed it to be so far up?

Convincing them to make the garage wider and more spacious, was difficult enough. They had to use all the excuses and lies Jack and June could find on both the internet and library books, starting from long lost cousins coming for a visit and ending with a friend that's a zookeeper that wanted to leave a few animals to their care, in order for them to lose all suspicion and comply with the order.

The boy couldn't begin to imagine _what_ they'd have to come up with, for them to make the roof even higher and _not_ end up looking like lunatics.

"It's not as bad as it looks to be, Jack." Ratchet's rough voice pulled him out of his musings, answering the question he already forgot he asked. "It's like being locked in a room with Miko playing her machine of ear bleeding, unable to get out. It's annoying, yes but not life threatening."

Jack had to laugh at the medic bot's harsh humor, as he criticized the Asian girl's music, once again.

"You really don't like the sound of that guitar do you, Ratch?" He asked, looking back at the bot that normally was just too _grumpy_ to throw a proper joke, as he looked over the twitching form of his trusty companion and guardian.

"The instrument on its own is fine." The medic said, poking Arcee's optics to see if they'd react. "It's what Miko **does** to it, to make it squeal in pain so badly that bothers me. Poor thing." Ratchet added making the teenager chuckle again, while doing something to the smaller robot's wiring at the back of the femme's head.

It was obvious to anyone that he was in a sarcastic mood today, ready to dish out a sarcastic comment whenever he finds an opportunity to do so, at any given time.

And that, in Ratchet language, means he's in a _good_ mood. As good as the war and present situation would allow him to be, but a good mood nonetheless.

"You think its _squealing_ in _pain_ , when Miko plays it?" Jack grinned at the cranky med bot as he made to ends of a wire meet and let out a spark, making Arcee's arm twitch.

"What _else_ would you call the strange _screeches_ it lets out, whenever that girl pulls the strings?" Ratchet asked absent-mildly, as he replaced some wires that got burned from the intensity of the shock. "I'm surprised Optimus didn't _rush in_ to _save it_ , the first time he heard it play, being the 'Prime-in-shining-armor' that he is." Ratchet humph-ed. "He's usually a _lot_ more considered towards beings, he believes are being hurt."

Jack could be heard laughing all the way upstairs.

Where his mother was presently trying to persuade the fearless leader of the Autobots, to go downstairs and show himself to Ratchet the same way he did to Arcee and was met with almost teenage like resistance.

"Optimus please." She sighted, rubbing her sore temples. "Stop being so stubborn and just show yourself to Ratchet, like you did Arcee." No matter what she said, he never moved. "Why is this time so different?"

She couldn't understand this.

Optimus could be placed between one impossible odd and another, and never be seen faltering.

Jack said he was like a rock slide, never faltering in the direction he desired to take.

He wasn't afraid to face Megatron one-on-one.

He wasn't afraid to give his life for a planet that didn't even know he existed.

He wasn't afraid of sacrifice and will gladly pay any price to see everything he fought for, be fulfilled.

And now he was backing away from showing himself to one of his closest friends, after being transformed into a human.

Optimus didn't answer the question, only continued to look down at his hands as he sat on Jack's bed.

It wasn't that he was afraid of what Ratchet will think of him once the medic sees what happened, he knows better than to think that his loyal friend (and secret father-figure) would think any less of him because of an accident.

No. It was something else.

To Ratchet, he was the only hope of ever winning this war. The medic has lost far too much to believe a tiny group of warriors, without the help of a special unit, could ever win against something as big as Megatron's forces.

He already almost lost Ratchet to depression and Survivors Guilt, once.

He didn't think he could take almost losing him again.

JA107: Hi guys! J Sorry if Ratchet doesn't act…Rachet-y in this chap. I just thought that, after having to deal with all that stress, he'd like to complain about something that really annoys him XD.

Anyway, am I the only one who's kinda disappointed at the way 'Robots in Disguise' turned out? I mean, they bring Optimus back to life to fight a bad guy and then just…leave him there. He's not a leader anymore and has been severely weakened by Micronus, who took away his new powers. Making him look more like a hindrance than actual help. _Hell_ even when they _do_ end up taking him on missions, he no longer is the 'know-it-all' leader, the one that always knows what to do, like in 'Prime' and ends up getting hurt or screwing things up.

It may be just me but I don't think the guys behind the new show know what to do with him, now that he's in the episodes.

Also, the animation was _way_ better in 'Prime'.

K, tell me what you people think in the reviews.

JA107 over and out.


	19. Chapter 19

"Human."

Chapter 19

"Thinking alike."

June sighted as she watched the coffee machine pour the dark liquid into her favorite, yellow mug.

After fruitlessly trying to make Optimus change his mind about showing himself to Ratchet, she issued a small break for both of them to gather their thoughts and maybe rethink a few things. Optimus obviously had his reasons for refusing the request, whatever they might be, and the lone mother respected that. She just hoped he'll reveal them to her before Ratchet finds out another way.

The said medic was still working to bring Arcee back online, too preoccupied to ask questions regarding his leader, giving both the human and autobot enough time to sort this matter out.

Pulling the mug from under the machine, all the while basking in the sweet scent of hot coffee, the determinated June set out to find the last Prime.

Before she could make it past the door, she turned back and pressed the necessary buttons for the machine to start producing another cup, figuring the troubled leader would welcome the soothing feeling of hot coffee flowing down his throat.

After the second cup was securely placed in her free hand, June finally found herself fit to go walk out the kitchen and find her friend.

The first place she checked was Jack's room, since that's where she left him to think, but unfortunately he wasn't there. She considered looking in the bathroom but decided against it, the door was cracked open showing that there was nobody in it. Frowning in frustration the lone mother entered the living room, knowing full well that this was one place where she won't find him, grumbling a greeting to the working Ratchet and a relaxing Jack.

"Hey, mom." The boy greeted her smiling. "Ratchet's almost done with making Arcee functional again, she'll be back to her normal self in about half an hour." He frowned seeing his mother's clearly unhappy facial expression. "What's with the long face? Cee will be fine, she's just a bit shocked."

June huffed.

"It's not that, Jack." She replied, landing heavily on the couch next to her son. "I can't seem to find Prime. I left him in your room to think about revealing himself to Ratchet, but now he's nowhere to be found." Sighting she rubbed her eyelids. "I'm beginning to think he gave in to more teenage attributes than just stubbornness and ran away." June huffed crossing her arms on her chest in clear disapproval.

Her teenage son watched her silently for a minute, trying to think of something to help his mom find the enigma puzzle that was, Optimus Prime.

That's when he realized that… _nobody_ , besides Ratchet, knew anything about the stoic Autobot leader and that, what they _did_ find out, was never given willingly by the Prime himself, only by some odd coincidence, demanding they know that particular detail about him.

If it wasn't for the accident with the Matrix, they wouldn't find out about his past as the quiet clerk, Orion Pax.

If it wasn't for the odd team up with Megatron to defeat Unicron, none of the humans would have learned about the unique friendship that the two leaders shared, before the war.

None of that would be known to Jack if Ratchet wasn't forced to play 'exposition bot' behind Optimus's back, when the leader was otherwise indisposed. At some point the teen wondered if Prime was even aware of the team medic giving them information about his troubled past, without his permission.

Prime was a very private bot and such a violation of his privacy could end up with Ratchet losing the trust, his leader bestowed upon him and that was, in no way, a good thing.

Optimus didn't trust easily after Megatron's betrayer but was willing to give it to those who had earned it, which wasn't an easy task. But those who managed to gain it, the proud leader would trust with his very spark.

In that aspect Jack found himself similar to the iron giant.

After what happened between his parents, he too didn't blindly trust everyone he made acquaintance with. Silently judging who would be the most likely to push a knife into his back, in order to avoid being betrayed again. But when he _did_ trust somebody, he trusted them fully.

Jack could find even more similarities between him and the Autobot leader when he thought back to his 'Orion Pax' persona.

Though not technically Optimus yet, Orion was an image of who Optimus was before the mantle of protecting the universe from the evil Decepticons, was thrusted upon his shoulders.

It was who he _would be_ if Primus bestowed the Matrix to somebody else.

The cleric was a quiet, reserved, calm and modest worker with a righteous heart and a firm belief in justice and freedom for all sentient beings, who didn't do anything, nor wanted, to get noticed.

Little did the poor bot know, that he would soon be playing a deciding role in a conflict against the one person he trusted the most, which destroyed his home planet and gave him a new name.

Jack was just a regular student who just wanted to complete high school. He was mostly quiet and reserved, only rising his hand up when there was nobody else to answer the teacher's question, before he got entangled in a war that was never his own, that made him grow up in more ways than one.

He never knew would be bestowed with the collective wisdom of the Primes and tasked with bringing the present Prime back to where he belonged.

Both of them were normal members of their society before faith decided they were destined for something far greater than a normal life.

Seeing those similarities between himself and Optimus, Jack wondered if they could help his mom find the missing bot.

He closed his eyes and thought about where he would go to collect his thoughts, when the situation at hand was proving to be a bother.

There were only two places where the boy would go to calm himself, one being the Autobot base and the other being a lonely cliff not far from their home that looked down upon a small village called, Rockwood Town.

The windy air blowing in his face did wonders to release his anger and frustrations, and watching the small town go on with its daily activities, just had a calming effect on him that not many things had.

Jack smiled.

If Prime went _anywhere_ to collect his thoughts, it would be the cliff overlooking Rockwood Town.

Even if he didn't know where the place was, it wasn't hard to find.

All one had to do, was follow the sound of the wind.

"Mom."

"Yes, dear?" June asked, turning her attention away from the working Ratchet and back to her child.

"I think, I know where Prime is."

* * *

JA107: Hi, guys! Sorry this chap is so short ^^'

If this is any consultation, I'm building up to a conversation that will prove to be very insightful on just _why_ Optimus is so reluctant to show himself to Ratchet. :)

So bear with me, please ^^'

Until next time!

JA107 over and out!


	20. Chapter 20

"Human."

Chapter 20

"The Prime of Hope.-Part 1"

The evening wind was cool and refreshing as it blew over the large cliff, where the lone Prime stood in silent vigil over the small town below him.

Worried sky-blue eyes watched as the daily activities of the local humans slowly come to a close, along with the setting sun. Mothers calling their playing children home from the playgrounds…cars being driven to the garages for a night's rest...elderly people getting up from the park benches and slowly making their way towards home, after whispering a quiet goodbye to the loyal pigeons.

His thought then wandered to the humans at the base, that know of their existence and what danger that knowledge alone, can bring. Miko playing on her guitar and watching Monster-trucks with Bulkhead…Jack taking Arcee on rides around the human world and bringing movies to the base, so that they can spend at least an hour a day all together…Raf playing videogames with Bumblebee and helping Ratchet with Ground bridge controls…

These were the people he swore to protect, to serve as the invisible guardian so that their lives remain undisturbed by the off-world conflict, to make sure they don't end up as shooting targets for Megatron and his followers.

As the strong, compassionate and gentle leader of the Autobots, he had the means to fulfil that promise. His leadership status and recognizable colors easily took the Decepticon attention away from the humans, since he was too important to the Autobots to leave alive. No Con would _dare_ shoot a _pathetic_ organic when he had his team's worst enemy to shoot at.

And shoot him they did, not that he minded every much. He could take more than a few hits to the frame with no consequence. The humans would be obliterated by a single well-placed shot, turned into a bloody stain on the ground, while he'd leave the battle with a small dent in his armor.

Now…by accidentally becoming one of them, he forsake more than just the children of the Earth. He forsake his own brethren as well.

No longer able to lead the already tiny team to battle, no longer able to take Megatron one-on-one, no longer able to do anything useful…

And that made him completely… _useless_.

His team will argue of course, they'll tell him he can lead from the inside of the base, that they won't even see the difference.

His loyal Autobots would lie to make him feel less like the burden that they all know, he is.

But those words would be just that, empty _lies_ …words with no real value.

And he knew what the team was like without him in sight, the children were kind enough to tell him about the time he, once again, become Orion Pax and left the Autobots with no one to lead them.

They would struggle on the battlefield without his guidance and firepower…feel helpless if Megatron ever showed up to battle them himself…argue among themselves because he wasn't there to settle down their arguments…as they were too used to having him around to fix whatever mistakes they've made, beat whoever it was they couldn't…

Team Prime depends heavily upon the bot they were named after. Without him, whenever they liked it or not…they would crumble.

That last though made him think about the usually grumpy medic back in the Darby residence and bow his head in shame, feeling guilty for once again abandoning his team by turning what was once hard metal, into soft flesh.

Out of all of the remaining bots, Ratchet will take the news of his transformation the worst, and Optimus wasn't sure he could handle the red Autobot's breakdown, with everything else fighting for his immediate attention.

"I should have known, I would find you here." A soft voice from behind pulled the former leader of the Autobots out of thoughts, he looked over his shoulder to see June standing a few meters behind with a gentle smile decorating her face and two cup of something hot in her hands. "Jack and I usually tended to have picnics here, when he was a toddler." She added, absent-mildly. "This place always had a calming presence about it."

Optimus nodded and turned his head back towards the small town wordlessly, watching the sun glow from between the lower buildings.

He closed his eyes against the wind that ruffled his hair. There will be stars tonight.

Taking that as an invitation, June stepped over to the taller human's left side at the edge of the small cliff and offered him the extra cup she carried.

When he turned his questioning eyes towards her, after looking into the blue cup he was now holding, she giggled.

"This," June pointed at the dark liquid in the mugs, "Is one of Earths greatest gifts to us humans, Optimus. Coffee." She then took a large sniff of the beloved drink. "In many ways it's similar to the 'Matrix of Leadership', for it too is a 'Vessel of Pure energy' that 'lightens our darkest hour'." The nurse winked at him before taking a small sip.

Her attempt at joking did not fall flat, for it actually brought out a small chuckle from the stoic leader before he too took a sip of the drink. That's when June realized that, she was probably the first one to hear Prime laugh in…ages most likely, for the chuckle felt unused, worn and dry.

As if…the leader just remembered how to do it.

Shaking away the depressing thoughts, June focused on the view before her.

The small town of Rockwood was preparing for the upcoming night and June marveled at how oblivious those people are to the danger that hangs over their heads every day.

They sent out their children to school without fear that they'd get captured by Decepticons or blown to smithereens, they go on picnics without the fear of being caught off-guard by an enemy fighting jet, they allow their teenage sons and daughters to wander in the nearby caves and go camping in the local caves without fidgeting about them possibly being infected by raw energion.

Those souls down there, beneath their feet, were not aware of the invasion that could very well happen at any given moment, now more than ever. Heck…they probably don't believe in aliens, let alone giant, sentient robot from outer space.

And June never envied anyone more.

It's been only a year since Jack took her to see his 'Science club' and already the nurse had forgotten what it feels like to live a normal life.

Each day when she watched Jack go to school, she had this cold feeling in the pit of her stomach that this may be the last time she sees him. Each day, as she drives to work, she found herself skittish and paranoid, looking at every vehicle in the traffic jam around her, as if every one of them was a decepticon in disguise.

She missed the simpler times, when aliens where no more than science-fiction movie material and cars were normal cars, not robots trying to blend in with the human race.

A loud sight to her right, reminded her about her companion and immediately felt ashamed.

Here she was complaining about a mere year of worry, fear and paranoia, when besides her stood a being that lived most of his life in war. Fighting against his brother for a planet already lost.

If she was having a hard time remembering times of peace and relaxation, then Optimus would probably claim he never experienced them in the first place. Which wasn't far from the truth.

The robot who lived during the Golden Age of Cybertron was Orion Pax. A young history cleric who gave his life for Optimus Prime to be born. From that day onward war consumed the planet, leaving the young Prime with a shell of something he once called home.

Despite everything Ratchet told them about how Optimus became Prime, there was one more question that plagued her:

She knew why he was a likely candidate for a Prime but…nobody knew _why_ he took it. As Orion, he didn't see himself as worthy of the mantle, what made him change his mind? What was the process of thought behind it?

"Why did you do it?" The question left the nurse's mouth before June could stop it, with fear in her eyes she looked up at the humanized Autobot, expecting to see…well anything but the calm expression on the leader's face.

Optimus was looking into the distance, the cold coffee in his right hand, the soft wind tugging gently on his raven-black locks.

"To bring back hope." His low voice answered after a minute of silence. "For everyone was losing faith in getting their homes back, that it was more logical to just surrender to Megatron and his judgement. Better die on Autobot soil than to be living a slave life, ruled by Decepticons." His voice turned sad. "Especially Ratchet."

* * *

 _The young cleric blistered at the sound of somebody forcing their way into the Autobot secret base, though the thick metal door. The sounds of gunfire and metal clinking against metal was heard from beyond the door, for that fraction of a second it was opened._

 _Orion hoped dearly that, after his 'incident' in the Elite Guard, he'll never hear that terrible sound again. But…apparently Primus had other plans. Or was this all the work of Unicron? He wasn't sure anymore._

 _The bot that forced himself in happened to be Ironhide, one of his closest friends, energion dripping from his robotic form as he slammed the door shut, the small movement leaving the large bot breathless._

 _So far only Ratchet and Orion himself have been permitted to stay in the safety on the building, during the battles. The medic, because he was of no use if he was shooting up bot and getting shot himself and the cleric because he refused to join the battle, claiming that there were more important things for him to do. Like decoding the Decepticon messages and analyzing strategy maps._

 _The rest of the resilience group would join them for repairs after each battle, every time a little more beaten…a little more defeated._

 _Each battle lowering their numbers a bit more…but they never backed down. They would stay and fight until there was absolutely nothing to fight for, anymore._

 _To see an accomplished officer like Ironhide be back in the base_ alone _, before the battle was over outside, was…disturbing._

 _"Hide?" Orion asked as he abandoned his spot behind the desk and walked up to the shaken general, his voice soft and gentle. "Hide where are Longshot, Gears, MetalBand, Toxic and SharpEdge?" When the warrior didn't answer, Orion grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "Ironhide where is your team?!"_

 _"Dead." Came the soft, quiet response. "All dead."_

 _The younger Autobot froze, his hands curling on the bulky bot's shoulders in reflex, offering comfort he could not give verbally._

 _Another team lost in this war…five more lives joined the Allspark prematurely…another Autobot forced to live with the terrible sickness known as 'Survivors Guilt'._

 _Without another word, Orion pulled Ironhide closer to him, lending the traumatized Autobot his shoulder to cry on and, for once, the elder bot accepted the form of comfort. Allowing his head to be buried in the broad shoulder of the cleric._

 _"Orion, I heard the door opening…" Ratchet, who was working on Bulkhead in the back of the base, suddenly appeared in the room. He froze to the ground at the sight before him. "By Primus, Ironhide what happened to you?" The medic asked rushing over to the injured commander._

 _Ironhide didn't react to Ratchet's probes at his body, he simply pressed himself harder against his friend and wept quietly, listening to the empty words of comfort that Orion whispered to his ear._

 _Not getting the answers he needed form the patient himself, the red-white medic bot tuned to the next best option._

 _"Orion, do you know what happened to-"_

 _"His team is dead, Ratchet." The cleric cut him off curtly, his grip tightening around his friend._

 _The team medic let out a strangled noise, before rasping out:_

 _"All of them?" He received a nod. "Even...even the younglings?" Ratchet's voice was strained, raspy and filled with disbelief. "Megatron wouldn't_ dare _kill sparklings, would he?" He added, voice uncertain and afraid of the answer he might get._

 _Longshot, MetalBand, SharpEdge and Toxic were all new recruits for the Elite Guard, when the war started. Barely old enough to hold a laser gun, let alone kill other Cybertronians, the four youngsters were, at first, supposed to stay in the secret base along with Orion and Ratchet, but somehow managed to convince everyone that they could take care of themselves out there. And so, Ironhide was appointed, along with his old friend Gears, to guide them through low-class missions that did not involve any battles only gathering supplies for the rebellions._

 _Up until now, everyone was satisfied. The kids were happy that they were actively helping out the Autobot cause, and the older warriors got the supplies of ammo and energion faster._

 _Today's mission was a simple 'go there-take that-come back' kind of task, to pick up a few leftover energion that the Decepticons, far away from the main battles and enemy patrol._

 _They were supposed to be safe._

 _"Did you think all this energion I have on my frame belongs to me, Red?" That was the first time Ironhide said something, since Ratchet appeared._

 _"Are you sure they were dead, Hide?" The medic asked, quietly. "They might have went into stasis-lock because of the energion loss…or faked being dead in front of the enemy, or-"_

 _"Starscream ripped their spark out, right in front of my optics, Red." Ironhide answered with a raspy voice. "I don't think they can be deader than that."_

 _Ratchet didn't have anything to say to that._

 _He just left without so much a word._

 _Leaving Orion to comfort the broken soldier._

* * *

 _A/N: *Sights in relief* Man, what a chap! I'm on the role now! Anyway, hope you enjoyed part One! Be sure to share your thoughts about it in the review section and be ready for part 2!_


	21. Chapter 21

"Human."

Chapter 21

"The Prime of Hope.-Part 2"

 _After managing to calm Ironhide down enough for him to slip into a healing recharge, Orion went to find Ratchet. Seeing the elder warrior's frame colored in youngling blood must have seriously decreased whatever positive look the, already pessimistic, bot had on the outcome of the war. And losing hope, after the loss of the scouts, is the last thing the Autobots need tonight._

 _Slowly making his way towards the med-bay, Orion couldn't help but notice how_ quiet _it was, since he accepted the thought of never seeing the team children ever again, into his processor._

 _There was no chirping laughter that could make even such a grump like Ratchet crack a smile…no pranks that would send most of the hot-tempered into a loud fit...no over-the-top tales of bravery that made the most experienced fighters laugh with their impossibility…_

 _The probability of those particular sounds returning to those halls, were close to zero._

 _Immediately the silence became haunting, unwelcome, cold…_

 _Orion shruddered and subconsciously quickened his pace towards the med-bay. Once he got closer his audios were bombarded with the sound of metal hitting metal and multilanguaged cursing, coming from behind the door he was about to enter._

 _Swallowing down his fear of being hit by a hard wrench, Orion twisted the doorknob and allowed himself to enter, instinctively ducking in case something sharp and damaging was flung at his helm._

 _When no such thing occurred, the brave archivist made his reluctant pedes move towards the center of the room where he could already hear Ratchet's cursing in various languages, with words so colorful they would have made Ironhide blush, getting louder and louder._

 _"Ratchet I know that the present situation we are presented with, indicates that we're fighting a battle long lost," Orion spoke in his calming voice when the raging medic was finally within view. "But we cannot lose hope-" He was cut off before he could say much more._

 _"Hope?" Ratchet asked, his voice dripping with irony. "You think what we're holding on to right now, is_ hope _?!" Within the span of minutes the angry medical officer was in the young clerk's face, snarling. "No, Orion, we gave up hoping for this war to end with a victory, the minute we saw Sentinel Prime be executed before our very optics. What we hold on to now is_ desperation! _An emotion of_ fools _and_ cowards _that are running out of options and reaching out for_ every possible solution _they can think of, to avoid getting slapped in the face by the inevitable truth! It is no better than your pathetic_ hope _!_ " _Orion had to take a step back from the sere volume of those words._

 _"Losing hope is equal to losing the battle." The younger mech spoke calmly. "And, last I heard, this fight is still yet to be won by either side."_

 _Ratchet let out a mirthless laugh._

" _Are you_ really _so_ naïve _, Orion?" He asked in a softer tone before returning to its higher volume. "Or are you just_ blind _?! There is literally no_ way _our side is_ ever _winning this war! Can't you see this, Pax?! We're outnumbered, outclassed and thrust into a corner with nooses around our necks, tightening every day!" Ratchet began pacing before the younger mech, his stance rigid and tense with anger. "Most of our 'soldiers' are ex-_ civilians! _Miners, healers, clerks and teachers that never saw a real battle in their lifetimes, let alone_ fought _in one! Our people barely know how to unlock a blaster properly, while Megatron has trained_ gladiators _whose daily_ energion cubes _is_ killing other Cybertronians! _As well as elite_ soldiers _from_ Iacon _with weapons and shields that make the ones of our Elite Guard, look like_ sparkling play _!" Ratchet then, again, placed his faceplates inches away from Orion's. "Open your eyes, Orion, look around you and tell me_ what exactly _you find about this situation,_ hopeful _!"_

 _The young clerk didn't look away from the daring fiery gaze, meeting it with an icy-cold cool look of his own._

 _Raging fire vs Calm ice._

 _"I find my hope in the will of Primus." He answered slowly. "For he has yet to give me reasons to doubt his plans."_

 _"_ Primus _?_ Primus _?!" Ratchet spat out a bit of energion. "_ Primus _, if he ever even_ cared _in the first place, abandoned us the_ minute _he allowed Sentinel's spark to be extinguished!" The medic growled, a wrench in his right servo. "He left_ us _, his so called '_ children _', to be_ butchered _by Megatron and his army with_ no _chance of_ survival _!" He spat, daring the younger to disagree. "What kind of_ merciful God _allows_ sparklings _to_ die, _for the simple crime of wanting to help get their home back?!" The medic shook his head at Orion. "No." He whispered just loud enough for the other to hear. "_ Primus _doesn't give a_ frag _about us anymore. Why else would he allow a bot like Megatron to grow up and ruin our paradise, without a Prime to oppose him?" The medic spat again. "He's disposing of us like a_ sparkling _who got bored with his pet_ cyberpuppy _."_

 _"The Lord of Harmony often works in ways that are beyond our comprehension." But Orion, despite rarely showing his stubborn side, could be classified as an 'unmovable object' when it came to his convictions and beliefs. His faith in the Transformers creator being one of them._

 _"Don't you go throwing that 'this-is-all-part-of-a-greater-plan'_ scrap _at me, Orion!" But, unfortunately for the young clerk, Ratchet was_ Ratchet _and he was as stubborn a bot as they get. If_ anyone _could make Orion back_ down _and admit_ defeat _from an argument involving one of his 'Unmovable object' topics, it would be_ him _. "Because not even_ it _and the infamous 'A-great-victory-demands-an-even-greater-sacrifice', can_ justify _the many deaths of_ innocent _civilians,_ sparklings _no less, in a war that wouldn't even_ happen _if the 'God of-fragging_ -Harmony' _, for_ once _did what his namesake implied!" Ratchet yelled, smashing the nearest object with the wrench he tightly clutched in his hand, making the clerk flinch at the screechy sound. "_ Why _does this war and bloodshed continue, when we already lost_ everything _there is to_ lose _?!_ Why _did he leave us alone and helpless against a global threat, without electing a new leader?! WHY DOSEN'T HE STOP THIS?! Why? Why?! WHY?!"_

 _The loud rage filled scream echoed through the empty halls, along with the sound of the metal wrench banging against the hard walls, followed by long minutes of uncomfortable silence…_

 _"Perhaps the one who Primus has chosen to be the new Prime, hasn't been created yet?" Orion whispered, looking sadly upon his old friend._

 _It was quite a while before Ratchet spoke again, his voice oddly calm compared to the outburst previous._

 _"'The Covenant of Primus' speaks of a Leader of 'Humble Beginnings' that will rise when the darkest hour falls and hopelessness blooms in Autobot sparks, who will be the key to ending this rule of Chaos." The medic whispered, his head bowed and arm resting on the thick cold wall he's been banging. "The last Prime was executed, more and more Autobots are switching sides and the younger generation is ceasing to exist." He then looked up at Orion, his gaze empty…defeated._

 _"If Primus was planning on saving us…" The young clerk could only watch as the red-white medibot turned on his pedes and slowly walks away from him._

 _"…then he is long overdue."_

* * *

"At that moment I found myself agreeing with Ratchet." Optimus's strong yet gentle baritone filled the darkening scenery around the lone couple watching over the now sleeping village below, along with the cooling night wind blowing from the east. "The darkest hour had long since struck and he who was prophesized to rise to Megatron's tyranny, had yet to reveal himself." Sapphire blue eyes gazed upon the newly formed 'Big Dipper' that hung directly over the small town. "It was clear that without proper prompting, the 'Chosen One' will never reveal himself."

"So you decided to go down to the core of your planet, to confront Primus and take up the mantle yourself." June finished for him in a semi sleepy voice, subconsciously pressing herself closer to the taller human's body for warmth.

"I'm afraid you misunderstood me, Miss Darby." The humanized Autobot said with a small smile once he met her confused gaze. "The reason for my visit to the spark of Primus, was never focused on becoming the foretold savior." He explained. "I simply wanted to know the identity of the unfortunate soul that was chosen to bear the unbearable burden of saving an entire planet from its own people, find said Autobot/Decepticon/Neutral and prompt him/her into taking up the mantle of leadership over the remaining ranks of Autobots."

He paused for a minute, placing an arm around the smaller nurse's shoulders as the wind picked up, without so much a thought, and pressing her closer to him.

"After all my involvement in creating the ever-raging conflict, it never occurred to me that that person…might be _me_."

* * *

JA107: Hello, hello, hello ;) I know the chapter isn't much but, on my defense, the next one is about Orion coming face-to-face with Primus himself and facing his true destiny. It's an 'Archery' version of that piece of exposition Ratchet shared during the 'Orion Pax' episodes, about Optimus becoming Prime. This is _bound_ to be interesting as there _is_ going to be a significant amount of _talking_ between the two, despite the fact that Primus is essentially a giant sparky ball and not an actual robot with a mouth and everything, and I _know_ you're all just _dying_ to know how ol'Julie is going to pull it off so…stay tuned!


	22. Chapter 22

"Human."

Chapter 22

"The past makes a phone call."

June woke up to the sound of soft snoring near her left ear and the loud unwanted noise of a telephone ringing somewhere to her far right.

Groaning at the rude awakening, while also ignoring the annoying pest of a human communicating devise, the single mother tried to remember how she got into bed in the first place, since she couldn't recall placing herself there last night.

The last thing she remembered listening to Optimus talking about his past on the edge of the nearby cliff and thinking about all the terrible pain the noble leader had to have gone through to end up in the position he was stuck in now. All the way trying to figure out a safe way for him to reveal his…condition, to the rest of his Autobots without causing a major panic.

She must have dosed off in the middle of it all somewhere and, sweet and caring soul that he is, Optimus must have carried her to bed and gently tucked her in making sure she was warm and comfortable, before even so much as _thinking_ about his own needs.

Feeling touched and quite warm inside, June smiled to herself.

Sometimes she wondered if the Autobot leader was even real, or if he was a personification of every girls dreams coming true in one perfect being.

Taking into consideration everything he had to go up against during the war and comparing all of that to all the war veterans and survivors that had passed through her hands, and her medical knowledge about people experiencing similar traumas…he should have turned out a lot differently.

He was kind, loyal, caring, selfless (almost to a fault), gentle, possessed a body that was considered eye-candy to women of all ages and was considered by many (minus himself) a hero as well as a symbol of hope. All he needed was a white armor, a sword, a shield as well as an equally white horse and he would be the spitting image of the English knight Roland.

June wouldn't be surprised in the _slightest_ if he walked up to her one day and said he was the reincarnation of either the for-mentioned Roland or King Arthur.

What _did_ surprise her though, was the fact that he didn't have any of the symptoms of PTSD or 'Survivors Guilt' that he should be showing. He slept soundly enough (or at least she didn't spot him having any signs of having nightmares) he didn't have any eating disorders (if the amount of pancakes he ate yesterday breakfast was any indication) or relived the events through vivid flashbacks (he hasn't tried to cut though an nonexistent enemy, like one of the three officers she treated). Even as a sentient _robot_ the only symptom she noticed was the lack of communication that tied in to his likes and interests, as if he forgot he even had any to begin with. It was almost as if everything happening around him, including his transformation into a fleshy Homo sapiens, had little to no effect on his psyche.

Of course one might argue that in robot form the vivid memories, nightmares and paralyzing guilt could be suppressed and locked away behind some kind of programing, but he had no such option as a human possessing something as complicated and unpredictable as a brain packed with nothing _but_ war memories.

The fact that he no longer can control his emotions so efficiently, also explained his reaction to certain situations which resembled more of how a _teenager_ with unstable emotions would react, than how a seasoned war veteran would.

He never had to go through puberty like a normal growing human would, his programing already equipped with emotional blocks to make him the perfect leader, and probably couldn't remember the last time be lost his temper with someone. Which made his ability to handle emotions about as good as a preteen's.

Those locked up emotions are slipping through his weakened walls and, with him unable to deal with them in an unknown body, the breaking of that dam could and _would_ be crippling to Prime's brain if it wasn't handled with proper care.

June's inner analysis of her friend's mental health was interrupted by the very thing that woke her up, the little abomination of an electronic devise also known as cell phone, reminding her that it was _still_ in fact ringing.

Reaching quickly for the screeching thing, while also acknowledging that it probably woke up the entire household by now as well as China and probably Cybertron (wherever it was), she immediately hit the answering button not even checking who the caller is, before pressing the cold plastic to her ear.

"Hello? This is Nurse Darby speaking, may I help you?" She chirped in the most inviting tone she could master. After all, it could be one of her patients calling to inform her of a relapse in their condition or having an emergency situation at the hospital and needing all the hands he can get.

The answering voice canceled both those options with a few well-placed words.

"I know what you're trying to do and I'm telling you now that it won't work."

It was a deep raspy tone that trashed along with the bad reception signal, sending shivers down her spine.

"Who is this?" June managed to choke out, already scrambling to get out of her bed and rush downstairs to lock the front door in every way possible.

"You don't recognize me, June?" The voice asked with mock-hurt. "You wound me. One would think that after spending more than a few years together, you wouldn't forget the sound of my voice so easily."

At first the only thing that came to her mind was a creepy perverted stalker that followed her around for the last couple of years without her noticing and developed a mind consuming _delusion_ that that _somehow_ made them a couple 'meant-to-be'.

But then she remembered that there was someone much _worse_ out there that could make the same statement, without it being a fake.

"Joe Darby." June whispered breathlessly, the air around her immediately turning ten degrees colder.

She could almost see that menacing grin forming on that disgusting face on the other end.

" _Bingo_ , Sweetheart."


	23. Chapter 23

"Human."

Chapter 23

"Last warning."

Taking a calming breath June steeled herself for the conversation she didn't want nor was ready for.

"What is it you want, _Joe_?" She asked, making her voice cold and spitting her ex-husband's name out like a venomous curse.

"What I _want_ is _not_ the _problem_." The disembodied voice sneered, responding to her coldness with a heat of his own. " _It's_ what you're _doing_ to keep me from acquiring what's rightfully _mine_ that forces me to personally intervene." June was sure that had this conversation been face-to-face, she'd be on the receiving end of one of his fiery glares. "I saw that new _friend_ of yours. Tall guy with quite a lot of muscle and dark hair." His voice was accusing. "That image brings forth _another one_ , doesn't it?"

The nurse knew what he meant. Optimus's human form resembles what she imagined their son would look like in his older years, of course Joe could make the comparison and come to the obvious conclusion that the humanized Prime is Jack's biological father.

"If you _still_ believe Jack isn't your son, why are you _suddenly_ so interested in getting him to live with you?" There had to be some other motive than a 'sudden change of heart' because she was sure that _man_ had been born _without one_.

A loud laugh erupted on the other side of the telephone, making her blister at the harsh tone of his voice caused by the abuse of alcohol and cigarettes.

"Aww, June…" He sighted after calming down. "You haven't changed a _bit_ , have you? You are just as completely _oblivious_ to your surroundings as I remember." The sentence was ended in an almost dreamy manner, as if he was reminded of good times that unfortunately passed. "Do you _know_ what your son is _doing_ when he's not home?" That question made the nurse's heart stop. There are only _two_ things that Jack does after school, he's either at his drive-through job or hanging out with Team Prime in their hideout. _Oh God…_ She though hand gripping the phone so hard that her knuckles were _white_ , knowing that Joe _wasn't_ talking about her son's job. _Please god no…_ "One of my boys, Tim, spotted him while driving home from checking on some of our new clients, said he heard Jack _talk_ openly to the vehicle as if it was _alive_." The poor nurse didn't answer, her small form shaking as the terrible realization sunk _deeper_ with every word that left the cursed man's mouth. "But, you know what the _interesting_ thing is? My boy Timmy heard the bike actually _respond_ in a human-sounding female voice."

By the time that line was over June was quietly hyperventilating, desperately preying that the man simply brushed it off as a prank or as a delusion and didn't believe a _word_ his employee said.

"Of course at _first_ I thought that he was on some kind of hallucinogenic drug and, because he was a loyal and good worker who are hard to get by these days, simply _banned_ him from ever taking that rode ever again." Those words made the single mother sight in relief. _Thank Primus…_ She thought, relaxing her choke-hold on the telephone. _For a second there I was sure that-_ "But then _another_ of my men, Brian, showed me a video where the seemingly innocent motorcycle transformed into a giant _robot_."

For a few seconds all June could feel was intense _panic_ filling every _vein_ in her body.

 _Oh God._ Sweat started making its way down her temples, despite her having an enormous ice block in her stomach. _Oh dear Primus…He knows..._

"You can see why I became… _interested,_ in our son's activities." He continued casually as if they were talking about something as normal as the weather and _not_ about discovering the existence of transforming robots that hide under the disguise of every day machinery. "I set up patrols and trackers watching Jack's _every_ move and the results, I must say, were quite _astonishing_." The next sentences were spoken not unlike those of a little kid that just got a new toy and was bragging about it to his best friend. "Our clever _clever_ young lad has an _army_ of beautifully built and highly functioning _weapons_ of _mass_ destruction. I don't know _how_ he discovered them or _how_ he bends them to his will, but…just _imagine_ what _I_ could _do_ with those robots at my command." June tried _not_ to think about all the _chaos_ that would create, and it would be all. Her. _Fault_. "If I could get my hands on even _one_ of them and have it analyzed by some of my technicians, I could have them mass produced and create an army of ruthless, unstoppable _killers_ to my _individual_ disposal." She could almost see the almost maniacal _glee_ in his voice as he spoke. "So much possibilities…so much _options_. I could take control of the US government…become grand emperor of Earth…I could do _anything_ I _want_! Who would even _dream_ to stand up to an _unkillable_ army that feels no fear, no guilt and no _pain_!" His sudden harsh laugh made the poor nurse push the phone away from her ear in a jerky motion. "Even the nuclear _bombs_ wouldn't stop me!"

"You'll never take them." She snarled at him, finally getting a grip of herself and her voice. "They're protected by the American Government. The _moment_ they find out you know about those robots, you and your entire gangster organization will be personally escorted to prison by the US military." June knew that saying they were a government secret wasn't the best thing to say to one Joe Darby, but she hoped against hope that the fear of being hunted down by FBI and CSI will be enough to drive him away from this utterly crazy idea.

Another unsuspecting laugh doubled the already large block of ice that seemed to fill up the space of her belly.

"The American Government will do _no_ such thing, darling." He whispered after calming down. "You see, while I was gone from your life, I became a rather _big_ fish in the criminal circles. Some of the higher positions in our glorious government are occupied by close friends of mine, who will _gladly_ cover my tracks if I pay them well enough."

June wasn't expecting such an answer, with eyes wide as plates she looked at the phone in her hands.

 _Dear Primus…what has that man **become**?_

"So you see, my darling. Either you give me our son _willingly_ or I will take him with _force_. I'm giving you up to tonight to think about it. Once that time is up, I'm making my move." The silence that occurred afterwards only highlighted the sound of June's scared heartbeat.

"Make your choice wisely, love."

After that the only thing June heard was the sound of the phone signaling that the call has been ended.

* * *

JA108: Hi, everyone! Sorry for the long wait (and if the chapter makes no sense ^^') but I just finished my final exams and now I'm an official graduate from high school (aren't I just a big girl? XD), so before I didn't have time to write. But now lazy Julie is back and plans on staying (or so she hopes…)

Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! This story wouldn't be what it is without your constant support :3

Hope you like the chappy and I'll you see you guys next time!

JA108 over and out!


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